SECTION 1:
INTRODUCTION
An attack on critical thinking, on a scientific attitude and way of reasoning, is today an integral part of the attack by Hindutva forces and the present ruling dispensation. The Indian Constitution, in Article 51 A (h) states that it is part of the fundamental duties of citizens to “...develop the scientific temper,
humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform.” In stark contrast, a Statement by 107 leading scientists in the country, issued in the aftermath of the astonishingly obscurantist happenings at a Seminar on the sidelines of the Indian Science Congress in January 2015 (about which we shall hear more later), pointed out that: “...what we are witnessing instead, is the active promotion of irrational and sectarian thought by important functionaries of the government.” This is what is at stake.
Mythology as Fact
Fantastic and unscientific claims were made at this Seminar on “Ancient Indian Sciences through Sanskrit,” a side-event held for the first time at the 102nd Indian Science Congress in 2015. “Ancient
Heritage of Science & Technology in Ancient India 6 knives so sharp they could slit a hair in two.” Rishis and Munis of “Vedic times,” “at least 7,000 years ago,” could extract “24-carat gold from cow dung.” Ancient seers of that period could make aircraft and 40-engined spacefaring rockets “that could undertake interplanetary travel!”
Dinanath Batra, who runs the Shiksha Bachao Andolan (Save Education Movement) and is an office-bearer of the Sangh Parivar offshoot Vidya Bharati, has authored a book “Tejomay Bharat” which
has now been included in the Gujarat school syllabus with an introduction by then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Among other incredible claims, the book says: “America wants to take the credit for invention of stem cell research, but the truth is that India’s Dr.Balkrishna Ganpat Matapurkar has already got a patent for regenerating body parts… You would be surprised to know that this research is not new and that Dr.Matapurkar was inspired by the Mahabharata” (pp 92-93). Apparently, the birth of 100 Kauravas from one egg of Gandhari was an example of stem cell research in ancient India. Similarly, Sanjay describing the Mahabharata War remotely to Dhritarashtra proved the existence of television in those times. And “transplanting” an elephant’s head on to the human body of Lord Ganesha in Indian mythology was an instance of plastic surgery! Mythology becomes reality! And no scientific evidence or reasoning is required, in fact is inimical to the search for historical veracity! The Batra view of science was again endorsed by the PM, Shri Narendra Modi, in a speech delivered while opening a new wing of Reliance Hospital in Mumbai in 2015, when he claimed that plastic surgery, organ transplants and IVF technologies were all available in ancient India. One approach to all these claims is to laugh them away. But this underestimates the impact that such claims may have on the popular imagination, especially in less educated sections of the population or
even among those more educated sections who happily embrace obscurantist ideas even if they know them to be incorrect and like to aggressively assert their Hindutva leanings.
Criticism Attacked
A storm of criticism in the media and from scientists in India and abroad to these and other claims at the Science Congress symposium, objected to unscientific statements, mixing of history and mythology, of the scientific method and of the Indian Science Congress itself. Anyone who thought the criticism would have embarrassed Hindutva proponents was quickly proved wrong. Emphasizing that these were not stray comments by “fringe elements,” a string of unapologetic and combative comments followed from Union Government Ministers and leading lights of various Sangh Parivar organizations, directly or indirectly defending the views expressed at the symposium, or making additional assertions along the same lines, revealing a determined effort to reinforce what was evidently a well-planned and concerted ideological campaign. Former Minister in the Vajpayee-led NDA government and then Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Mr.Ram Naik, in his valedictory address
to the Congress, felt the need to stress that ancient India had made huge strides in sciences like medicine, astronomy, mathematics and astrology (emphasis added), and that he “pitied those who are ashamed of our history,” which none of the critics had said they were. Former BJP President and Home Minister Rajnath Singh said after the Congress that local pundits or astrologists should be consulted rather than NASA scientists for astronomical predictions on eclipses and such!
This chorus rejecting the criticism of unscientific claims show that these different claims and assertions together amount to a cohesive Hindutva narrative on science in ancient India. It is also perhaps a signal of future ideological campaigns of considerable significance for contemporary intellectual and political discourse in India, especially if they are backed by State power. The very use of the prestigious and internationally renowned Indian Science Congress occasion also showed that, contrary to the forward-looking development-oriented outlook that the present government proclaims, the wider socio-political movement it represents does not mind causing immense damage to genuine knowledge creation and to major scientific institutions in India in pursuit of their ideological
agenda.
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