Published Sep 30, 2026 | 6:08 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 30, 2026 | 6:36 PM
An auditorium at Delhi University, South Campus. (Wikimedia Commons)
Synopsis: After an anonymous X account called anti-caste texts such as BR Ambedkar’s Annihilation of Caste, Jyotirao Phule’s Gulamgiri and the writings of Periyar as “poison” being fed to “young minds” by a “Leftist cabal”, the Prime Minister’s Office appears to have sprung into action, asking central universities to reconsider the inclusion of such seminal works in their courses. (This piece was originally published on thewire.in and has been reproduced with permission.)
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has apparently asked central universities to rethink the inclusion of seminal anti-caste writing in courses after a post from an anonymous social media handle listed a number of anti-caste texts and courses taught in universities across the country.
A thread on X from a right-wing handle called ‘@IamTheStory__’, whose bio claims them to be a storyteller on “geopolitics”, “history”, “Vedas”, “Sanatan” and “Bharat”, had highlighted formative anti-caste texts and courses that are taught at universities in India and across the world, and appears to have triggered the PMO’s action.
THIS IS WHAT STUDENTS ARE BEING TAUGHT AT OUR UNIVERSITIES🚨
From patriarchy to Caste Annihilation to Debrahmanising the history to Curse of Manu we are feeding young minds with a poison which our leftist cabal use a apprenticeship for grooming their future rank and file
🧵 https://t.co/H7wDoxUPSn
— The Story Teller (@IamTheStory__) September 26, 2026
An “urgent” email by Raj Kamal Kumar, an official in the Department of High Education, part of Ministry of Education – a copy of which was accessed by The Wire – was sent on Sunday, 27 September, to the registrars of number of central universities, including the University of Hyderabad, Pondicherry University, Rajiv Gandhi University, Tezpur University, Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU), English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), among others, with a link to the post.
Citing communication from the PMO, the email states that the universities must provide the government with enrolment details of these courses, essentially how many students have taken these courses. It also asks the universities to “furnish comments” on the X thread.
A copy of the email sent to central universities by an official in the Department of High Education, Ministry of Education. (Courtesy: The Wire)
The courses listed largely belong to the MA and M.Phil curriculums of the University of Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru University.
While the texts mentioned include BR Ambedkar’s Annihilation of Caste, Gulamgiri by Jyotirao Phule, the writings of Periyar, as well the work of sociologist and anti-caste activist Gail Omvedt and theorist Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd, it also lists the Ramayana and Mahabharata as “poison” that is being fed to “young minds” by a “Leftist cabal.”
The 35 works listed are some of the most authoritative texts to come out of India, critical theses that have enabled the entry of anti-caste thought into upper-caste circles, while also empowering those from lower castes. They created a framework of study that sought to understand the histories and socio-cultural contexts of casteism, building a basis on which it can and has been fought.
BR Ambedkar’s Annihilation of Caste argues that the complete destruction of caste is essential to social justice. Sharmila Rege’s Against the Madness of Manu is a collection of Ambedkar’s writings on Brahmanical patriarchy, spotlighting a comparatively less discussed oppressive structure. Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd’s Why I Am Not A Hindu, which has also been compared to Franz Fanon’s Wretched of the Earth, cements a Dalit-Bahujan identity.
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A professor at the University of Hyderabad confirmed to The Wire that the email had been circulated. They mentioned that it had been forwarded by the registrar to all departments of the university, after which the history department shared it with all faculty members. Representatives from MANUU and the Rajiv Gandhi University also confirmed its circulation.
This further interference by the government comes as universities already have built in infrastructure which vets syllabi. A syllabus approved at the departmental level, by an academic council, as well as a Board of Studies before it is implemented.
It also substantiates what is already a reality: that the government is dictating what teachers can teach in both schools and universities, at the cost of quality and well-rounded education, as has been observed through backlash that the National Education Policy has received. Delhi University has dropped the Delhi Sultanate from its postgraduate syllabus. Papers on Kashmir and Palestine have been removed as part of a bid to “de-westernise” education.
“The PMO cannot tell me what to teach and what not to, my university’s statutory bodies (departmental committee, school board, and academic council) decide it,” said Professor Bhangya Bhukya, a historian and professor at the University of Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, the thread by the X handle, which shares panicked screenshots of the texts, as well as a photograph of sociologist Sharmila Rege, ends on a hysterical note.
“So if you wonder who created Kanhaiya kumar or Neha Bora It is our education system infested with such books and anti Hindu propaganda propagated by left leaning teachers who are also product of the same education system (sic),” it reads, adding, “We need to break this cycle.”
(This piece was originally published on thewire.in and has been reproduced with permission.)
