Irrational Vision:

November 02/2014 : At a function in Bombay to inaugurate Mukesh Ambani's Reliance hospital last week, our Prime Minister Damodardass Modi made some very astounding claims. While doctors were probably waiting for for the Prime Minister to inspire them and tell them what vision he has laid out for revitalizing the nation's health sector, Mr. Modi decided to delve into mythology and claim in his official speech, amongst other absurdities, that plastic surgery was being practiced in ancient India.

It needs, to understand the true essence of what he said, to be quoted here: “We all read about Karna in the Mahabharata,” said Prime Minister Modi. “If we think a little more, we realise that the Mahabharata says Karna was not born from his mother’s womb. This means that genetic science was present at that time. That is why Karna could be born outside his mother’s womb,” he said. “We worship Lord Ganesha. There must have been some plastic surgeon at that time who fixed an elephant’s head on the body of a human being and began the practice of plastic surgery.”

This astonishing claim went mostly unreported in the media which, after vehement ridiculing of the earlier PM Manmohan Singh, has probably decided to change its tack for reasons best known to the editors. However what was more surprising was the total silence from the community involved in medical science. Nobody dared to come forward to refute these insane claims. The ideas floated by Modi in Bombay were a reflection of what Dinanath Batra has done in the curriculum which is followed in 42,000 schools in Gujarat. The study books claim that stem cell research was at its peak during the Mahabharata and that motor cars existed during the Vedic period. These amazing statements have no scientific or archaeological evidence and are completely based on mythological texts like the Mahabharata. Many may question whether this view that our Prime Minister has presented, be ignored or further probed.

The larger issue here is the mindset that Damodardass has brought in once he got elected as the Prime Minister. He embraces technology and has promised to make hundred smart cities in India. His vision is to make India highly competitive in the field of technology. Yet, he deems it fit to continue to make claims which have no factual basis. None can claim that all the epics written by ancient poets were complete lies or figs of imagination. There must, undoubtedly, be truth in these, and there is archaeological evidence for a tiny portion of it. But the events themselves need to be taken with a bucket of salt. To claim that someone like Ganesha, a man with the head of an elephant, actually existed, is ludicrous and even laughable. The least any 21st century Indian can hope for from her/his Prime Minister is to be rational. These kinds of comments, that too at a public platform, are direct indicators of Modi’s lack of this quality.

It’s not as if these views do not translate into real action for our Prime Minister. During a student interaction at Assam recently, Mr. Modi said: “Climate change? Is this terminology correct? The reality is this that in our family, some people are old. They say this time the weather is colder. And, people’s ability to bear cold becomes less. We should also ask is this climate change or have we changed. We have battled against nature. That is why we should live with nature rather than battle it.” In a United Nations conference on climate change, mere days after making this comment, Mr. Modi was a no show. Thoughts translate into action. It would not be surprising if the Damodardass government , in the near future, goes on to decree that these untruths must also be included in school curriculum across the country. This is a real danger that cannot be laughed away. This may produce generations of Indians who are taught complete untruths at school and who will not be capable of facing the real world simply because the nonsensical study course would have made them mental deviants.

The Indian media maintaining such a deafening silence to these statements of Modi also shows how much we love to be associated with political power. And at what cost to the country! This report, which was widely shared on the social media space, was by the Guardian newspaper of UK where the author ridicules the views held by our Prime Minister. It may not be far fetched to say that such statements, once they see the light of day internationally, will tarnish the image of modern India. It is one thing to talk to bull dung sitting in Nagpur or Jhandewalan but quite another to tinker with the already dilapidated education system of our country and make it idiotic. The local media might have deliberately blanked out this issue because, most likely there could have been a feeling that if it got attention, it would present Modi as a leader with a warped vision and without any semblance of rationality.