What Did Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit Say In Her Widely Criticised Keynote Address?

Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit, the Vice Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) drew flak for her remarks about Hindi gods. She was delivering the keynote address at the BR Ambedkar Lecture Series, which was organised by the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit made history as the first woman Vice Chancellor of the JNU. She was previously a professor at Savitri Phule Pune University in the Department of Politics and Public Administration.

Pandit sparked controversy during her address at the lecture when she spoke about the caste of gods. The JNU Vice Chancellor’s comments about gods, caste, and the Manusmriti were widely criticised.

Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit Controversy: What Did The JNU VC Say?

• Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit said in her address, “No god is a Brahmin. The highest is Kshatriya. Lord Shiva must be a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe… So if you see, clearly, the gods anthropologically do not come from the upper caste.”
  Pandit then asked, “why are we still continuing with this discrimination, which is very, very unhuman?”
• Pandit said that the Hindu scripture Manusmriti categorised all women as “shudras” and described it as extraordinarily regressive. She said that according to the text all women are shudras and no woman can claim she is any other caste. Pandit said, “I believe it is only by marriage you get the husband’s or the father’s caste on to you.” She added that it was extraordinarily regressive.
• Pandit said that if Indian society wants to do well, then it was important for caste to be annihilated. She added that she did not understand why people were emotionally attached to caste, as it is “very discriminatory, very unequal”.
• The Vice Chancellor also mentioned the intersectionality of caste and gender. Pandit said that being a woman belonging to a reserved category made then “double marginalised”.
• She described Buddhism as one of the greatest religions because it proved that Indic civilisation “accepts dissent, diversity and difference.” Pandit added that Buddha was the first dissenter against Brahminical Hinduism.

Suggested Reading: Who Is Santishree Dhulipudi? JNU Vice Chancellor's Remarks On Hindu Gods Draw Flak