Manusmriti: The Phoenix for Hindutva

Written By Project Mukti

The book that is burned but revived again and again.

This Manusmriti Dahan Divas read why Babasaheb Dr B.R Ambedkar burned the Manusmriti, and how Hindutva forces keep reviving it like a phoenix to use it for their larger goal of Hindu Rashtra.

Manusmriti Dahan Divas

On December 25, 1927, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and his followers burned a copy of the Manusmriti in a public bonfire in Mahad. Ambedkar saw the Manusmriti as the basic code of Brahminism, the caste system and gender inequality and wanted to protest the importance given to religious sanction over legal sanction. It speaks volumes about his formulation of the intersectionality of gender and caste.

“The bonfire of Manusmriti was quite intentional. It was a very cautious and drastic step, but was taken with a view to forcing the attention of Caste Hindus. At intervals such drastic remedies are a necessity. If you do not knock at the door, none opens it. It is not that all the parts of the Manusmriti are condemnable, that it does not contain good principles and that Manu himself was not a sociologist and was a mere fool. We made a bonfire of it because we view it as a symbol of injustice under which we have been crushed across centuries. Because of its teachings we have been ground down under despicable poverty, and so we made the dash, staked all, took our lives in our hands and performed the deed.”
— Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

Power of Manusmriti Today

Manusmriti is a document that still wields enormous power over Indian society. It is the primary text that formalised and legitimised patriarchy and caste.

Past and memory, with a mythical and conservative head or author, provide enough material and immaterial force to legitimize and legalize the inegalitarian social structure. Manu, who is considered the author of Manusmriti or Manu Dharma Shastra, is one such head. Babasaheb Ambedkar understood the importance of symbols and the historical past in legitimising present inequalities.

“It might be argued that the inequality prescribed by Manu in his Smriti is after all of historical importance. It is past history and cannot be supposed to have any bearing on the present conduct of the Hindu. I am sure nothing can be greater error than this. Manu is not a matter of the past. It is even more than a past of the present. It is a ‘living past’ and therefore as really present as any present can be.”
— Dr. B.R Ambedkar

Manusmriti as a tool for Hindutva in Education

Delhi University (DU) had proposed to teach Manusmriti in a new law syllabus. The amendments, which the Faculty of Law’s Committee of Courses unanimously approved in June, were rejected after heavy criticism from some teachers.

However, other amendments namely the addition of Kautilya’s “Arthashastra” and "Purushartha" have been approved while removing the important works of John Locke and Amartya Sen. 

The committee that drafted the amendments comprised professors mostly from the oppressor caste. Professor Anju Vali Tikoo, Dean, Faculty of Law, had said “The Manusmriti has been introduced in line with the NEP (National Education Policy) 2020 to introduce Indian perspectives into learning.”

The amendments had been slammed as “politically motivated”, “restricted to covering Brahmanical ideas”, “irrelevant”, “unnecessary” and lacking in academic merit by several faculty members. The dissenting teachers said the issue extends far beyond the rejected readings as “Manuism in spirit pervades and is embodied in different sections of the amended syllabi”. Significantly the newly amended syllabus for the 1st and 3rd year students doesn’t include any Dalit, Feminist or Marxist readings.

“In the country, 85 per cent of the population belongs to the marginalized and 50 per cent of the population is women. Their progress depends on a progressive education system and teaching pedagogy, not regressive. In Manusmriti, in several sections, it opposed women’s education and equal rights… Manusmriti has been recommended to students as ‘suggested readings’ which is highly objectionable as this text is adverse to the progress and education of women and marginalised communities. Introduction of any section or part of Manusmriti is against the basic structure of our Constitution and principles of Indian Constitution.”
— Social Democratic Teachers Front

A Sanskrit verse from Manusmriti was quoted in the chapter on value education in the Maharashtra State Curriculum Framework (SCF) for School Education for classes 1-12.

After strong criticism from educationists, the Education Minister removed the text from Manusmriti calling it an “error”. He maintained that the draft presented was not the final syllabus but other similar material can be found. A new chapter has been included on ‘Indian Knowledge System (IKS)’ focusing on ancient Indian knowledge which recommends the usage of the Bhagwad Gita and ‘Manache shlok’ written by a Hindu saint who had a huge influence on Hedgewar, the founder of RSS.

Despite having a strong legacy of the Anti-Caste movement in Maharashtra, the literature isn’t reflected in the curriculum. 

A Future of Hindu Education?

Manusmriti is used by Hindutva today, especially in education, for the larger goal of Hindu Rashtra, and to fulfil the decades-long attempt to assault the Constitution and Dr Ambedkar’s legacy. The fact that both the Delhi University and Maharashtra School syllabi moved to include Manusmriti around June 2024, suggests that concerted efforts are being made for the inclusion of Hindu teachings in education. We must be vigilant against such attempts. This trend of centring Hindu religious texts and tactics in syllabi will turn our educational institutions into Agraharas. Manusmriti with its violent edicts and codes on women, Dalits, and other marginalized groups, has no place in modern education.

Sources

Project Mukti

Project Mukti works with Dalit, Bahujan, Adivasi women and children to bring positive and sustainable change in their lives.

https://www.instagram.com/projectmukti/
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