Dr. John Dayal has spent four decades documenting the erosion of minority rights in India. At 76, the veteran human rights activist has witnessed cycles of communal violence, investigated attacks on Christians, and tracked the systematic marginalization of India’s diverse communities. But when he read about the University Grants Commission’s latest curriculum framework in late August, even this seasoned observer of India’s cultural wars was startled by its brazenness.
“A cabinet minister told a school class last week the first man in space was an Indian - the flying god Lord Hanuman,” Dayal told Christian Today. “The minister was dead serious.” For Dayal, that moment crystallized what he sees in the UGC’s draft Learning Outcomes-based Curriculum Framework: “This UGC curriculum framework is educational apartheid - it systematically privileges one religious tradition while marginalising India’s magnificent diversity. When academic rigour is replaced with sectarian ideology, we move from education to indoctrination.”
Released on August 20 for nine undergraduate subjects - Anthropology, Chemistry, Commerce, Economics, Geography, Home Science, Mathematics, Physical Education and Political Science - the framework represents the most comprehensive attempt yet to integrate what the UGC calls “Indian Knowledge Systems” into higher education. Aligned with the National Education Policy 2020, it promises to move beyond rote learning toward holistic, multidisciplinary education while connecting students with India’s intellectual heritage.
But across India’s educational landscape, from the government offices of Kerala to the tribal colleges of Northeast India, from chemistry laboratories to student union halls, a remarkable coalition of resistance is forming around a shared conviction: this isn’t educational reform but ideological conquest.
The sacred and the scientific
The framework’s ambitions are sweeping. Chemistry students will begin their courses with a Saraswati Vandana and explore traditional Indian medicines alongside molecular structures. They’ll study the therapeutic uses of milk, water and honey, learn preparation methods for traditional fermented beverages like kanji, mahua and toddy, and examine “ancient Indian knowledge of Parmanu” in units on atomic structure, presenting recapitulation of atomic concepts in ancient India alongside Bohr’s theory.
Mathematics introduces ancient timekeeping methods called Kala Ganana, where students calculate time using the Sun, Moon, stars, and Earth’s motion. The curriculum draws on texts like the Surya Siddhanta and Aryabhatiyam, explores cosmic time cycles including Yugas, Kalpas, and Brahma’s day, and examines the Panchanga calendar system for determining auspicious moments in rituals and festivals. Students will study sutra-based arithmetic and geometry from the Shulba Sutras, mandala geometry and yantras, rangoli and kolam as algorithmic art forms, and temple architecture with ayadi ratios.
Commerce education incorporates Kautilya’s Arthashastra prominently, with the framework stating that “Commerce education must incorporate the holistic learning approach derived from Bhartiya philosophy.” Most provocatively, the draft suggests that concepts like ‘Ram Rajya’ can be explored in the context of corporate social responsibility and environmental, social and governance frameworks. The commerce curriculum includes leadership teachings from the Bhagavad Gita and modules on Bharat Bodh, Viksit Bharat and Indian knowledge traditions.
In political science, V.D. Savarkar’s “The Indian War of Independence” appears in reading lists for courses on the freedom struggle, with the syllabus listing “National Movement – B.G. Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi, Nationalists – V.D. Savarkar, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya.”
For critics, these inclusions reveal a systematic pattern. “This backward gaze risks several pitfalls, potentially undermining modern educational goals, equity, and scientific progress,” Dayal explained to Christian Today. “The official philosophy is a departure from India’s secular, scientific temper enshrined in the Constitution. This promotes a Hindu supremacist narrative, which we call saffronisation, where history is rewritten to emphasise selective ancient achievements, even mythological ones, while downplaying or erasing contributions from medieval periods, such as Mughal-era innovations, or minority perspectives.”
Kerala’s constitutional stand
In the coastal state of Kerala, where Christianity and Islam have deep historical roots alongside Hinduism, the framework has triggered the first major state-level resistance. Higher Education Minister R. Bindu’s initial assessment was uncompromising: the drafts were “regressive and unscientific,” aligned with “the ideological interests of the Sangh Parivar.”
Her specific objections cut to the heart of India’s secular compact. She strongly opposed including Savarkar’s works in political science curricula and criticized suggestions to examine corporate governance through the lens of ‘Ram Rajya,’ arguing these recommendations undermine secular and pluralist values. “The draft curricula reject the ideas of academic flexibility, ignore the importance of language studies, and introduce ideologically charged content,” Bindu said.
The minister cited examples that she believes expose the framework’s true agenda: recommendations to include ancient texts like the Upanishads, Mahabharata and Arthashastra as sources for sustainable development studies, and proposals to include biographies of ideologues such as Deendayal Upadhyaya alongside Savarkar as elective papers. “These inclusions are not only ideologically biased, but also threaten to erode academic freedom and the quality of higher education. Such an agenda could lead to intolerance and unrest in our academic institutions,” Bindu warned.
Dr. Karen Gabriel, Head of the English Department at St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi, echoed these institutional concerns in conversation with Christian Today: “All in all, these UGC regulations are an assault on the education system, the very, very sound education system we had. It had some problems, of course, but then remedy the problems. Why do you jettison a perfectly sound education system?”
Kerala State Higher Education Council vice-chairperson Rajan Gurukkal pointed to curricula in subjects such as anthropology, commerce, political science, and physical education that appeared aligned with the ideological interests of the Sangh Parivar. The state will formally submit its objections to the UGC, with the council establishing an expert panel to prepare a comprehensive response following meetings on August 26.
Academic fear and scientific integrity
In university corridors across India, the framework has exposed the growing tension between academic freedom and ideological conformity. Professor Amber Habib from Shiv Nadar University warned that the mathematics curriculum’s heavy emphasis on ancient content could leave graduates unprepared for modern research, struggling to cope with master’s programmes at national institutions like IITs and Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research.
But perhaps most telling is the voice that speaks only on condition of anonymity. A professor of chemistry at an Indian university, citing security concerns, told Christian Today: “The proposed chemistry syllabus raises serious concerns about scientific clarity. Placing concepts like Parmanu beside Bohr’s atomic model may confuse students about the difference between historical beliefs and scientific theories. Starting courses with religious invocations or presenting traditional remedies as equivalent to modern chemistry undermines the rigour our subject demands. If India wants its students to compete in advanced science, the focus must remain on experimentation, reproducibility, and internationally recognised standards of research.”
This climate of fear reflects broader concerns about academic freedom under the current dispensation. Harish S Wankhede, assistant professor at the Centre for Political Studies in Jawaharlal Nehru University, told media outlets that universities are increasingly becoming arenas of ideological contest. “Unlike the extensive consultative process that brought figures like Ambedkar into academic syllabi, these changes appear to be agenda-driven, aimed at legitimising and establishing Hindutva ideologues as national icons,” he said.
Rajesh Jha, professor at Delhi University’s Rajdhani College, criticized the top-down approach: “Currently, teachers no longer have the right to design subject syllabi, which are being imposed by the UGC. Syllabi should not be used for narrative-building.”
Student resistance and civil society mobilization
The opposition has mobilized beyond academic circles. The Students’ Federation of India announced comprehensive protest plans, with leaders Adarsh M Saji and Srijan Bhattacharyya organizing marches to UGC offices and regional centres across the country on August 27. Students planned to burn the LOCF draft on campuses of central and state universities on August 25 and 26.
“As per Article 51A(h) of the Constitution, it is a fundamental duty of citizens to develop a scientific temper, humanism, and the spirit of inquiry and reform,” the SFI statement declared. “This attempt by the UGC is intended to intensify saffronisation and propagate an unscientific temper in higher education.”
The student organization’s critique of Savarkar’s inclusion was particularly sharp: “The students and youth of this country do not need to study the history of the freedom struggle from books written by those who betrayed the freedom struggle.”
Religious leadership has joined the resistance with equal intensity. Rev. Vijayesh Lal, General Secretary of the Evangelical Fellowship of India, told Christian Today: “The UGC’s draft framework does not seem like education reform but an attempt to advance Hindutva, a political ideology of religious nationalism, which I hold as distinct from Hinduism. By selectively reshaping syllabi to insert ideological and devotional content, while promoting figures like Savarkar, it undermines scientific rigour, weakens academic freedom, and distorts India’s plural and secular character. Our students deserve education rooted in truth, critical inquiry, and constitutional values, not indoctrination.”
The Fraternity Movement’s state secretariat in Kerala alleged that the framework aims to implement a Hindutva agenda under the guise of the National Education Policy, pointing to the replacement of the UGC emblem with an image of Goddess Saraswati, the inclusion of “History of Hindu Chemistry” as a reference book, and the incorporation of Vedic Mathematics formulas and mathematical concepts from the Narada Purana. President Naeem Gafoor’s organization vowed it will not tolerate attempts at “saffronisation” of the education sector.
Voices from the tribal heartland
Perhaps nowhere are the stakes higher than in Northeast India, where tribal and Christian communities fear the erasure of their distinct educational heritage. Fr. Tom Mangattuthazhe, Secretary for Ecumenism of the North Eastern Regional Bishops’ Council (NERBC), told Christian Today: “This centralised curriculum threatens Northeast India’s constitutional protections under Article 30(1) and our Sixth Schedule tribal autonomy. When the UGC imposes Hindi, Sanskrit, and Hindutva-centric content in states where Mizo, Khasi, and Naga dialects define our identity, it risks cultural assimilation. Our Christian missionary institutions have served tribal communities for over a century - forcing them to meet metropolitan benchmarks erases our educational heritage.”
His concerns reflect deeper anxieties about cultural survival in a region where tribal customary laws and autonomous councils have historically governed education alongside land and cultural practices. The fear is that centralized UGC norms will make it harder for small tribal and church-run colleges to maintain their distinctive missions while meeting uniform regulatory requirements designed for mainland institutions.
The constitutional crossroads
What emerges from this chorus of opposition is a fundamental disagreement about India’s constitutional character and educational mission. While UGC Secretary Manish Joshi described the framework as promoting “flexibility and innovation in programme design,” critics see something far more sinister: a systematic attempt to replace India’s pluralistic educational foundations with a Hindu nationalist curriculum.
The controversy extends beyond specific subjects or teaching methods to touch the core of India’s identity as a secular republic. The framework’s integration of religious invocations, mythological concepts, and Hindutva ideologues into academic curricula represents what critics view as a departure from the scientific temper and secular character enshrined in the Constitution.
Kerala’s opposition creates another significant flashpoint between state and central government over education policy control. The state government has accused the framework of contradicting goals of academic flexibility by embedding ideological content, warning against what it calls the “saffronisation” of higher education.
The battle lines are clearly drawn. On one side stands the central government and UGC, promoting what they describe as the integration of India’s rich intellectual heritage into modern education. On the other, a diverse coalition of state governments, academics, students, religious leaders, and civil rights activists who see this as nothing less than an assault on India’s pluralistic educational foundations.
As the September 20 deadline for public feedback approaches, this controversy has evolved beyond curriculum reform into a defining moment for Indian higher education. At stake is not just what students will learn, but who they will become - and whether India’s universities will continue to serve as spaces for critical inquiry or transform into instruments of ideological indoctrination.
The question that haunts Dr. Dayal and his fellow critics is whether India’s constitutional promise of secular education can survive this systematic challenge. As he warned in his conversation with Christian Today, when education becomes a battleground for cultural supremacy, the casualties extend far beyond classrooms - they reach into the very soul of the republic itself.
