Indian Science Congress: Vedic myth must not be masqueraded as science, says Nasa scientist

Finally, someone called BJP’s bluff. After claiming that major inventions were born in India and then going on to say that we should not rely on modern evidence or research, the ‘New India’ under the BJP has left no stone unturned to rewrite history. But a Nasa scientist recently submitted an online petition asking officials to cancel the 102nd Indian Science Congress, which will be held on 4 January in Mumbai, because it “questions the integrity of the scientific process”. A report in Mumbai Mirror said that Dr Ram Prasad Gandhiraman, a scientist with the Nasa’s Ames Research Centre in California in his petition said that India’s attempts of mixing science with mythology is appalling. [caption id=“attachment_2025105” align=“alignleft” width=“380” class=" “]  Image used for representative purpose only. ISCON/Flickr[/caption] Earlier, _Firstpost_ had reported that organisers of the science symposium were planning to slip Vedic mythology about aviation in their programme. The Indian Science Congress, which hosts Nobel laureates, discusses topics like ribosomes, resistance to antibiotics and the origin of life, and discourses on controlling the cell cycle among other things. One of the speakers, Captain Anand J Bodas, had told Mumbai Mirror in an earlier report, that the aeroplane was a vehicle discovered in the Vedic age which could not just move from one country to another, but also from one planet to another. “In those days aeroplanes were huge in size, and could move left, right, as well as backwards, unlike modern planes which only fly forward,” he had said. Citing an ancient Indian treatise on aviation, the Vaimanika Prakaranam as his source text and in an even more bizarre twist for the unbelieving — he said most of its principles have been forgotten because of the passage of time, foreign rulers and things being stolen from the country. The fact that such a prestigious platform was used for “pseudo-science” discussion is appalling, Dr Gandhiraman said while speaking to Mumbai Mirror. The petition said: “We as scientific community should be seriously concerned about the infiltration of pseudo-science in science curricula with backing of influential political parties. Giving a scientific platform for a pseudo-science talk is worse than a systematic attack that has been carried out by politically powerful pseudo-science propagandists in the recent past. If we scientists remain passive, we are betraying not only the science, but also our children.” Joining in on the bandwagon, the PM told an audience of doctors in Mumbai last month, that the Hindu god Ganesh’s head was evidence of ancient plastic surgery. Adding that the Kauravas from the Mahabharata born outside his mother’s womb were all test-tube baby. And in case you’re wondering, here's a handy list of everything that RSS says India discovered first before the world did.