The Quiet Dismantling of Liberal Education at Delhi University

Pravin Raj Singh

At its core, a literature syllabus is more than a list of prescribed texts. It is a pedagogical contract, a space where students and educators commit to engaging with the world’s complexities, however uncomfortable. This contract enables critical engagement with power, history, caste, gender and the structures that shape our lives. It is through this space that students learn not just to read, but to question – to not merely absorb, but to interrogate.

The recent restructuring of syllabi at Delhi University under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 marks the calculated unraveling of that contract. What is happening in the name of “educational reform” is not reform at all. It is the deliberate depoliticisation of the humanities – an effort to sanitise curricula, dilute critical content and render the classroom an ideologically safe space for the status quo.

Also read: Merge and Purge: Whatever Is Happening to Delhi University?

Consider the removal of Mahasweta Devi’s Draupadi from the English Honours syllabus. The story, which centres on Dopdi Mejhen – a tribal woman who becomes a symbol of resistance after state brutality – is unapologetically political. Its exclusion cannot be seen as neutral editorial discretion; it is an act of ideological discomfort.

Take the omission of Bama’s Karukku, an autobiographical work that gives voice to the lived experiences of a Dalit Christian woman navigating both faith and caste oppression. These are not simply “texts.” They are interventions – literary works that expose what mainstream narratives often suppress. The absence of such voices from the curriculum amounts to erasure. And what is being inserted in their place? Generic texts with no political bite. Literary selections that offer moral clarity instead of ideological challenge. The message to students is clear: you may learn how to communicate, but not how to confront….

https://thewire.in/education/the-quiet-dismantling-of-liberal-education-at-delhi-university

++++++++++++

University Grants Commission aiding the cult of personality

Methodical destruction of the education system

Cockroach Janta Party’s X account withheld after it surpasses BJP on Instagram with 13 million followers / Ravish Kumar: Cockroach Party क्या है

From The Bench To Barbs: ‘Cockroach’ Slur On Critics

Who will be held accountable for exam paper leaks? Records show most get away / Impunity for exam leaks undermines trust

Political parties must find common cause with youth, worker protests

Ruchir Joshi: Out of depth – India’s anti-knowledge brigade

Where Are the ‘Don Quixotes’ of Indian Academia?

Witch-hunt against Tejaswini Desai highlights dangers of being a teacher in India today

Professor’s Harassment by ABVP Shows Near-Complete Takeover of Universities by RSS-BJP