Reacting strongly to papers presented at the 102 Indian Science Congress (ISC), claiming that aviation was known to Indians 9000 years ago, California-based National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scientist Ramprasad Gandhiraman has launched a signature campaign to remove the lecture on ‘Ancient Indian Aviation Technology’ from the ISC, fearing that it would gain the legitimacy to be included in school curriculum.
“Interestingly, talks like this are allowed on respected platforms only when the BJP comes to power,” said N. D. Jayaprakash of the Delhi Science Forum. “India certainly made contributions to astronomy but talking about aircraft 7000 years ago is a joke. They constantly need to revisit what they call past glory to drum up support for their ideology,” he added.
Last month, the Indian History Congress passed a resolution demanding that the government should not distort history. “Unfortunately, even the Prime Minister has suggested that in the hoary past, Indians had learnt, and then forgotten, plastic surgery of a kind going far beyond what is now possible. There is widespread belief that soon textbooks will be revised or rewritten, to inculcate such a strongly misleading and divisive brand of history among pupils in our schools,” it said.
