Protests Over Jihad In New MA Pol Sc Syllabus

Time of India

26-06-2025

New Delhi: References to jihad, terrorism, self-determination in Kashmir and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Delhi University's revised MA political science syllabus have drawn objections from members of the university's Standing Committee on Courses.
The syllabus, for implemented from the 2025-26 academic year, has already been approved by DU's Academic Council and Executive Council but awaits a final nod from the standing committee, where it was recently reviewed and sent back for revision after several faculty members voiced objections.
At the centre of the objections is the elective paper, DSE 17: Politics and Ethnic Conflicts in J&K, which aims to examine "historical, constitutional and political aspects of J&K, internal and external dimensions, separatism, insurgency, migration of Pandits from the Valley, human rights and Armed Forces Special Act-related issues".
The course also includes topics such as "debates on state autonomy, factors of terrorism, and secessionist politics".
The syllabus features readings on India's national identity, Hindu nationalism and the politics of anxiety. Some members of the standing committee objected to the topics proposed to be taught in the paper.
Another paper, DSE 51: Religious Nationalism and Political Violence, which examines the mobilisation of religious identity in political conflicts, also came under the scanner.
According to its stated objective, the course seeks to understand "how religion becomes a political resource for mobilisation and contestation in different contexts, especially in multi-religious societies". It adds that "the course also interrogates the complex relationship between religion, modernity, nationalism and violence".
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There are references to RSS in DSE 14: Identities and Political Transformation in India, which includes the organisation as part of a reading by famous French scholar Christophe Jaffrelot, a known critic of Hindu nationalism and the Narendra Modi govt.
Also flagged was DSE 63: Discourses on Hindu Nationalism, which proposes to study "the core issues of Hindu nationalism which is the most contested subject of debate in the Indian politics". The syllabus engages with key thinkers and includes readings like "Essentials of Hindutva" by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
On the international front, DSE 28: Pakistan and the World includes discussions on 'Pakistan's ideological foundations and nationalism; Islam and the military; The Kashmir problem – genesis, wars, proxy war and peace process; Islamic radicalism, trans-border terrorism and Jihad', and Pakistan's evolving foreign policy, particularly in relation to India, Afghanistan and China.
The inclusion of such framing in a university-level elective has also drawn pointed queries from a section of the committee.
"These papers are not academic in nature. They are ideologically driven and meant to push a particular narrative. The inclusion of such content under the garb of curriculum reform is unacceptable," declared professor Harendra Nath Tiwari, a member of the standing committee.
The panel has asked the political science department to revise the syllabus by removing the controversial papers and objectives.
A fresh draft is expected to be presented when the standing committee reconvenes on July 1. The DU administration had earlier said the syllabus had to be reworked keeping India as the focal point of teaching.
These objections come amid a wider pattern of contestation around syllabus revisions at DU. In recent months, changes to both undergraduate and postgraduate curricula — particularly under the New Education Policy framework — have faced criticism from sections of the academic community. In May, a controversy erupted over the removal of proposed papers on the Israel and Palestine conflict, issues in Kashmir and one on dating app-related suicides from the undergraduate syllabus of the psychology department.