Lord Shiva must be from SC, ST community, no Hindu Gods upper caste: JNU VC Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit

Lord Shiva must be from a scheduled caste or scheduled tribe since he sits in a cemetery with a snake and Brahmins can't do that, JNU Vice Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit said while delivering a lecture organized by the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Speaking on the topic 'Dr BR Ambedkar’s Thought on Gender Justice: Decoding the Uniform Civil Code', she said anthropologically, no God is a Brahmin by caste and the highest is a Kshatriya. 

"Lord Shiva must be a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe. Because he sits in a cemetery with a snake… they have given him very few clothes to wear. I don’t think Brahmins can sit in the cemetery," she was quoted as saying by The Indian Express. 

Speaking against caste-based discrimination, she said none of the Gods, including Lakshmi, Shakti and Lord Jagannath, come from the so-called upper caste. "So, why are we still continuing with this discrimination, which is very, very unhuman," she added. 

She claimed all women are categorized as Shudras in the ancient text "Manusmriti" and they can get the husband caste by marriage. "I think this is something extraordinarily regressive,” she added. 

She said many people defend the caste system by saying it was not based on birth but now it is. She also invoked the death of the 9-year-old schoolboy who was allegedly beaten to death by his teacher for touching a waterpot. 

Pandit, a Politics and Public Administration professor, was appointed as JNU's VC in January and she will remain at the top post for a period of five years. She said after her appointment that she would strive to change the image of the university among the masses. 

On Monday, she pointed out the paucity of funds in JNU, one of the premier universities in the country. She said the university was running with a whopping Rs 130 crore deficit.