No God is Brahmin, Shiva is Shudra: JNU VC Santishree

In what may be taken as a spiteful statement in a section of the Hindus, JNU vice chancellor Shantishree Dhulipudi on Monday said that the “Hindu gods and goddesses are not of upper caste and that the “Lord Shiva can also belong to SC/ST (Shudra).

Delivering the Dr BR Ambedkar Lecture Series titled ‘Dr BR Ambedkar’s Thoughts on Gender Justice: Decoding the Uniform Civil Code’, she said that Hindu gods “anthropologically” do not belong to upper castes and Lord Shiva can either be a scheduled caste or scheduled tribe as “he sits in a cemetery with a snake and has very little clothes to wear.”

Newsweekly the Outlook quoted the VC as saying, “Most of you should know the origin of our gods according to the science of mankind. No god is Brahmin, the highest is Kshatriya. Lord Shiva must be from a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, as he sits on the cremation ground. Snakes live with him. He wears very few clothes. I don’t think Brahmins can sit in a crematorium.”

The vice chancellor severely criticized Manusmriti claiming that the ancient religious text makes the status of women extraordinarily regressive, reported the Outlook. She said: “Let me tell all women that according to Manusmriti all women are Shudras, so no woman can claim that she is a Brahmin or anything else. Women inherit caste from their fathers or husbands. I think it’s something that is extraordinarily regressive.”

In fact, Mata Lakshmi, Shakti, and even Lord Jagannath do not come from the upper caste according to the science of mankind, she said and added that Lord Jagannath is actually of tribal origin, he said. “So why are we still continuing this discrimination which is so inhuman? It is very important that we are rethinking Babasaheb’s views. We don’t have a leader from modern India who was such a great thinker.”

She reportedly said: “So why are we still continuing with this discrimination which is very very inhuman. It is very important that we are rethinking, reorienting the thoughts of Babasaheb. We do not have any leader of modern India who was such a great thinker.”

The vice chancellor further clarified that Hinduism is not a religion but a way of life. “And if it is the way of then why are we afraid of criticism,: she said.

-INDIA NEWS STREAM