By IANS
New Delhi : The Delhi High court Wednesday issued a notice to Delhi University (DU) following a public interest litigation (PIL) that has alleged objectionable references to the Hindu epic Ramayana in a textbook prescribed for graduate-level history students.
A division bench of Justices Manmohan Sarin and Manmohan issued the notice to the Delhi University vice-chancellor and the academic council to reply by May 19.
“The objectionable references in the book are hurting the feelings of Hindus. It is a violation of fundamental rights,” advocate Monika Arora, who filed the PIL, told IANS.
She was objecting to “Three Hundred Ramanayas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation “, an essay by A.K. Ramanujan on different folk traditions related to the Ramayana. It is a recommended reading for the students of second-year BA (honours) course in history.
Members of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) youth wing have also opposed the essay in the history book as it mentions many versions of the narrative of Lord Ram’s life.