JNU Vice-Chancellor clarifies on 'caste of gods' remark

She had said, "Most of you should know the origins of our gods anthropologically. No god is a Brahmin. The highest is a Kshatriya." She added, "Lord Shiva must be a scheduled caste or a scheduled tribe because he sits in a cemetery with a snake and has very little clothes to wear. I don't think Brahmins can sit in the cemetery."

Later, clarifying her remarks, Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit said, "I also said that Hinduism is the only religion and a way of life. Sanatan Dharma accepts dissent, diversity and difference. No other faith does it and it is to the credit of Hinduism that such great dissenters from Gautam Buddha to Ambedkar are celebrated."

Earlier in her lecture, the JNU V-C also said the "status of Shudras given to women in ManuSmriti" makes it extraordinarily regressive. Referring to this, she said that she was analysing the work of Ambedkar.

"He wrote a lot on ManuSmriti and it is he who said all this. I was only analysing his viewpoint and he, being the father of the Indian constitution and the chairman of the drafting committee, it is extremely important to understand his philosophy...," she said.

"....so there is a controversy but this is what Dr Ambedkar has said so we have to look at it critically because he is one of the great dissenters. It is extremely important for modern India especially when we are going to the Amrit Kal and looking into some of our great nationalists who have written a lot. These were not my thoughts. I am not as great and original as Dr Ambedkar. As a good academician, I was just analysing his views on gender and justice," she added.