'No God belongs to the upper caste, Lord SHIVA is...,' JNU V-C sparks new debate

JNU Vice-Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit suggested that "anthropologically" gods, including Lakshmi, Shakti, or even Jagannath do not come from the upper caste. In fact, she said, Jagannath has tribal origins.

New Delhi: JNU Vice-Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit has triggered a new debate by suggesting that “anthropologically, no god belongs to the upper caste and that even Lord Shiva could be from a scheduled caste or tribe.” JNU Vice-Chancellor made these controversial remarks while delivering the Dr B R Ambedkar Lecture Series titled “Dr B R Ambedkar's Thoughts on Gender Justice: Decoding the Uniform Civil Code,” during which she also said the "status of ‘Shudras’ given to women in Manusmriti" makes it extraordinarily regressive.

"Let me tell all women that all women according to Manusmriti are Shudras so no woman can claim she is a brahmin or anything else and it is only by marriage that you get the husband or father's caste on you. I think this is something which is extraordinarily regressive," she said.

Talking about the recent caste violence involving a nine-year-old Dalit boy, she said that “no god belonged to the upper caste.” "Most of you should know the origins of our gods anthropologically. No god is a brahmin, the highest is a Kshatriya. Lord Shiva must be a scheduled caste or a scheduled tribe because he sits in a cemetery with a snake and has very few clothes to wear. I don't think Brahmins can sit in the cemetery," she said.

She also said that "anthropologically" gods, including Lakshmi, Shakti, or even Jagannath do not come from the upper caste. In fact, she said, Jagannath has tribal origins.

“So why are we still continuing with this discrimination which is very very inhuman? It is very important that we are rethinking, and reorienting the thoughts of Babasaheb. We do not have any leader of modern India who was such a great thinker. Hinduism is not a religion it is a way of life and if it is the way of life then why are we scared of criticism,” she said.

“Gautam Buddha was one of the first to wake us up on the discriminations which is embedded, structured in our society," she added. Extending her support for the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), she said Bhim Rao Ambedkar himself wanted to implement it. "Unless we have social democracy, our political democracy is a mirage," she said, adding that the biggest tribute to gender justice will be the implementation of the UCC.

"Today too, of the 52 universities, only six varsities have women vice-chancellors, of which one is from the reserved category," she added.

However, after facing criticism for her remarks, the JNU Vice-Chancellor later said it is to the credit of Hinduism that great dissenters from Gautam Buddha to BR Ambedkar are celebrated. "I was speaking on Dr BR Ambedkar and gender justice, decoding uniform civil code so I had to analyse what was his thought so I was paraphrasing what he said in his books these are not my ideas," she said.

(With Agency Inputs)