Over 1,000 scientists sign online petition to stop dilution of scientific processes

BENGALURU: Researchers and professors of science across the country, several of whom have PhDs from Ivy League institutions in the US and top institutions in India, have taken umbrage at political patronage leading to the mixing of science and mythology at the recently-held 102nd Indian Science Congress in Mumbai. They have support, strangely enough, from researchers into Sanskrit literature and the Vedas, who are aghast that “ridiculous” claims are being made, mocking the actual work of scientists in ancient India.

Over a 1,000 scientists and science lovers have signed an online petition ‘Stop the attempts to dilute the integrity of scientific process in science meets’, which will be presented to the 102nd ISC president SB Nimse and to Harsh Vardhan, Union Science and Technology Minister, by an independent forum called Breakthrough Science Society. Alumnus of Cornell, Princeton, JNU, IISc and various top Indian institutions have signed it.

Rajani KS, ex-head of the biology department at Presidency College, Bengaluru, who belongs to the Breakthrough Science Society, alleges that there was political interference in the conduct of ISC. “With a tradition of over a 100 years, it should have had doyens of Indian science speaking on contributions India has made. We see political interference in various ways — the heads of ICHR, NCERT, DRDO and ISRO have been replaced, although we don’t know if the newly-appointed persons have any political background,” she said.

The provocation is a paper presented by Captain Anand J Bodas, a retired principal of a pilot training facility on the second day of the event in January first week. The paper claimed that the Rig Veda and the Vimana Samhita by Maharishi Bharadwaj written 7,000 years ago gave the blueprints for an aircraft with 40 engines. He claimed that ancient Indians had built a plane that could travel between planets.

Soumitro Banerjee, a PhD from IIT-Delhi and Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar awardee told ET: “We’ve seen an increasing attempt from various sectors to mix history with mythology and science with unscientific beliefs. So much so that even a forum such as the Indian Science Congress (ISC) is being used to propagate these views.”

“Science does require imagination, but it has to become material reality,” professor Vikram Soni from Jamia Millia Islamia said.