Way back in 2014, Indian prime minister Modi claimed that India had foundations of plastic surgery & genetic science. If you do not believe me, watch him speak here. Translation says “We worship Lord Ganesha. There must have been some plastic surgeon at that time who got an elephant’s head on the body of a human being and began the practice of plastic surgery. ” (Source)
To top it all, he had the gall to spout this nonsense at 106th annual meeting of the prestigious Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA). That there was some applause at ISCA gathering should have worried many.
Other ministers joined in. Enter Satyapal Singh. As a minister of state, he would first claim that planes were ancient Indian invention. His evidence? Puspak viman is referred in Ramayana. He explains it here.
He would then move on to be the junior minister of higher education and would say Darwin’s theory evolution is false because, hold your breath, no one “ever saw an ape turning into a human being” (Source)
Former Uttarakhand chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank would chime in with “Astrology is the biggest science. It is in fact above science. We should promote it.” and gems such as “Sage Kanad conducted nuclear test one lakh years ago.” (Source)
Some of the real scientists did protest but their voice was drowned in the cacophony of supporters. What was saddening to note that there was hardly condemnation from any one in the government. And why would there be?
“यथा राजा तथा प्रजा” (As is the king so are the subjects) ?