Mandatory ‘Indian knowledge’ course seen as ‘indoctrination’

The introduction of a mandatory course on Indian knowledge systems across the country’s public universities has been criticised for being an “indoctrination” project rather than a genuine attempt to decolonise academia.

Under new guidelines published by the University Grants Commission, the course should account for at least 5 per cent of a student’s total credits at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, covering topics including traditional metallurgical studies and proofs in Indian mathematics to those with a more religious tint, such as horoscopic astrology and the study of economics through Hindu texts like the Mahābhārata.

Manasi Thapliyal Navani, an assistant professor in the School of Education Studies at Ambedkar University Delhi, distinguished the UGC’s plans from more fundamental efforts to decolonise India’s higher education system.

“Indigenous knowledge education or decolonisation projects begin with a critical dialogue with history and with the dominant forces that have shaped modern disciplines,” she explained.

However, she said she believed that the UGC had adopted a narrow view that appeased the idea of a singular knowledge system held by the government of Narendra Modi.

“There is one Indian knowledge system, which doesn’t allow you to talk about conflicting traditions within the past, presented like a harmonious, seamless discourse,” she said of their perspective. 

This lack of critical engagement, the scholar said, meant that “the whole project essentially boils down to becoming one of indoctrination”.

The resources used in the curriculum, she added, did not include critiques on caste, for example, around which the ancient education system was built.

“You’re telling really bright minds of the country to just blindly accept it and then chew it out for their students,” she said, adding that the initiative was “somewhere between a political project and a comedy project”.

Jaheer Mukthar, an assistant professor of economics at Kristu Jayanti College in Bangalore, noted that there had been a clear shift in the UGC’s policies since 2014, when Mr Modi was elected to office.

“One can say that the government is clearly using the textbook as a tool for propagating the Hindutva agenda,” he said in reference to Hindu nationalism, which sits in contrast to secular democracy.

He added that it was a democratic government’s “duty” to separate the Indian knowledge system course from political and religious agendas.

“It is crucial that educational initiatives and curricula are developed and implemented based on rigorous scholarly research, academic consensus and the principles of academic freedom,” he said.

Although Dr Mukthar said that embracing India’s contribution to the knowledge economy across history was positive, he warned that the curriculum designed by the UGC would have “a definite negative impact on the scientific temper among students and the academic community”.

tiya.alexander@timeshighereducation.com