Politics

La guerra de la India contra la ciencia

Feb 20, 2018 Shashi Tharoor

NUEVA DELHI – El nuevo ministro de educación de la India, Satyapal Singh, declaró hace poco que la teoría de la evolución por selección natural de Darwin “no es científica”, porque “nadie, incluidos nuestros ancestros, ha dicho o escrito que vio a un mono convertirse en un ser humano”. Esta declaración sorprendente es sólo la última andanada del ataque que ha emprendido el gobierno actual contra la ciencia.

Según la constitución de la India, desarrollar “el temperamento científico, el humanismo y el espíritu de curiosidad y reforma” es deber de todos los ciudadanos (e implícitamente, responsabilidad del Estado). El primer gobernante de la India, Jawaharlal Nehru, sostuvo que a diferencia de la religión (que tiende a producir “intolerancia, credulidad y superstición, emocionalismo e irracionalismo” y un “temperamento de persona dependiente y esclava”) el temperamento científico es “el temperamento de un hombre libre”.

Pero para el Partido Popular Indio (Bharatiya Janata Party) que hoy gobierna la India, esas ideas han pasado de moda. Sus líderes y simpatizantes quieren enseñar a los escolares que la teoría evolutiva es una hipótesis más acerca del origen de la vida, en plano de igualdad con las tesis religiosas. Lo que buscan es desterrarla de los programas escolares.

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0 Comments on this paragraph, 20 Comments on this article

ROBERT VESSEL Mar 15, 2018

Ha, must be the influence of U.S. Republicans; they don't believe in science either.
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Massai Patel Mar 9, 2018

This article is a great example of western media bias against Modi and the BJP.

Let's start with two assertions listed at the bottom.

1. Science threatens the “traditional perspective BJP wants to entrench”.

2. The 5 examples laid out in the article lead up to a forced choice in thinking that “proves” that you’re either scientific or you’re not. I will not even have to address the fallacious nature of how five quotes from four individuals can be generalized to billions of BJP members.

Doesn't the US and many other European nations have a religion that could be framed anti-scientific as well? Adam/Eve is not a part of the evolutionary story, just in case you did not know, and these countries still support scientific endeavors. This proves there is no forced choice.
Thanks for reading. But hey, does logic even matter to someone in Congress trying to bash the BJP before critical elections?

This proves the whole conclusion and basis for the list of examples in the article are flawed.
The author created a false dichotomy that is not scientific.
The article itself is non-scientific.

Mod supports science. He actually believes that science will help save India.
What about the polar moon landings? Is that no part of scientific space exploration?
There is no forced choice, just bad thinkers.
This article is spawned from the biased reporting you can find in Science Magazine. If you look over their reporting, you’ll find that 9 of the recent 15 articles about Modi and the BJP are negative. Will we hear from Pallava Bagla next week? He’s really intimidated by Modi. We understand.

Massai
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srinivas sam Mar 9, 2018

I admire Mr. Tharoor a lot and follow him closely and read some of his books. This is a political article which just picks some points to create a negative narrative of the BJP. For example, what he does not say is that it was the "anti-science" BJP government of Mr. Vajpayee that sanctioned India's successful Lunar mission. Science is something like nuclear physics that can proven. Darwin did not prove the "Theory" of Evolution. It is the best explanation to date of life on earth. I wish Mr. Tharoor was in the BJP so that his opinions were more genuine when he did not have to defend the stupid congress party through his writings.
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srinivas sam Mar 9, 2018

I admire Mr. Shashi Tharoor a lot and follow him closely and read some of his books. This is a political article which just picks some points to create a negative narrative of the BJP. For example, what he does not say is that it was the "anti-science" BJP government of Mr. Vajpayee that sanctioned India's successful Lunar mission. Science is something like nuclear physics that can proven. Darwin did not prove the "Theory" of Evolution. It is the best explanation to date of life on earth. I wish Mr. Tharoor was in the BJP so that his opinions were more genuine when he did not have to defend the stupid congress party through his writings.
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Massai Patel Mar 7, 2018

Claims that BJP is anti science is not scientific!
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j. von Hettlingen Feb 22, 2018

Shashi Tharoor is appalled at the "war on science" in India waged by the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP. Last month, Satyapal Singh, India's minister for higher education has been condemned by scientists for demanding that Darwin's theory of evolution be removed from school curricula because “nobody, including our ancestors, have said or written that they ever saw an ape turning into a human being,” he said.
The author says, even Prime Minister Narendra Modi "has joined the assault on science." In 2014, at the inauguration of a Mumbai hospital, he merged myth with reality, claiming "the elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesh was proof of ancient India’s knowledge of plastic surgery," which together with reproductive genetics were practiced thousands of years ago. While Modi was chief minister of Gujarat state, he also said that the Hindu God Rama flew the first airplane and that stem cell technology was known in ancient India. No scientist in India had dared to challenge his views.
In 2013 Modi portrayed himself "as a technologically savvy twenty-first-century leader" during the 103rd edition of the Indian Science Congress. He called on scientists to keep the economy, environment, energy, empathy and equity at the heart of their endeavors in the interest of impactful science. They needed to find cost effective and efficient solutions, display empathy by ensuring that “efforts are in tune with culture, circumstances and social challenges.”
Hindu nationalists have long propagated their belief that ancient India scholars were behind many discoveries that helped shape modern science, like astronomy and mathematics including the invention of the concept of zero. But religious figures of the BJP have been accused in recent years of enforcing “ideological science” - in defiance of India's founder, Jawaharlal Nehru, who made science and technology as key to economic development - the top priority for all governments.
The author highlights a litany of ludicrous episodes that illustrate how members of the ruling party reject science. This quandary gives rise to a "gaggle of gurus who have turned religion and pseudo-spirituality into a lucrative business in India," that exploits the gullibility of the unwitting masses. This "war on science" will only impede scientific development at a vulnerable moment when India seeks to become an economically developed country in the coming years.
Soon India will overtake China as the world's most populous country and its demography - a very young population - has an edge over an aging workforce in China. Abdul Kalam, India's president from 2002 to 2007 believed nearly a quarter of the country's population could be lifted out of poverty if the government continued to back science and technology as a source of growth. Looking over its north-eastern border, India feels the challenge from China, which is India's rival for political influence in the region.
Kalam, an aeronautical engineer and father to the country's missile programme before he went into politics had a message that should serve the ruling party as a guidance. He believed that an evolved, enlightened society - based on Indian ideas - could lead to "a peaceful, prosperous and happy planet." His philosophy was a "three-dimensional approach, involving education with a value system, religion transforming into spirituality, and the most important, economic development for societal transformation in all the nations."
- jagjeet sinha Feb 23, 2018
  
  THE RELIGIOSITY OF SECULAR DEMOCRATS
  Fundamentalism has flaws not in Hinduism alone - but have yet to come across the Author's analysis of flaws in the Two Global Religions, that appear to be his benefactors. Always apologetic, as if Dynasty was foisted by The Two that are flawless. There is a Third Global Religion - that flourished in The East with its Fountainhead in India. The Buddha found the answers to the insidious Caste Chemistry - but The First Family's Caste Chemistry precludes proliferation of the virtues of Buddhism, given their bellicose apathy towards Hinduism. The alternative narrative of The Buddha just doesn't seem to provide them succour.
  
  Religiosity is a curse - it's fundamentalism can't be condoned - yet incredulous that the Intellectual credentials of The Party that ruled India for Seven Decades, stands exposed as mere brokers for Two Global Religions in the garb of Secular Democracy.
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william holmes Feb 21, 2018

I await Mr. Devnani's pronouncement on what gas the cow emits from its other aperture.
- Ch Billy Feb 21, 2018
  
  What comes out of other aperture of cow is green house gases that is destroying the earth? Unfortunately, barbaric races in the west and middle east who are not yet out of their hunter-gatherer phases in human evolution love gorging on their meat like animals. To satisfy such desires, they breed millions of cows and other animals and destroy the earth in the process. When they are called out, they turn to those who are higher in the evolution scale to be actual culprits. This is just like Hitler criticizing Gandhi for having "primitive" thoughts like non-violence.
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- P. Kamath Feb 21, 2018
  
  It is well known it also comes out of cow worshipping current ruling govt. and its followers , - mouth, nostrils everything. It starts with Prime minister Modi.
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Jehanzeb Khan Feb 20, 2018

I am both appalled and elated to read this; whilst I am rejoicing that India is becoming a nuthouse, I am worried about how Pakistan is following suit.
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jagjeet sinha Feb 20, 2018

PAKISTAN HITS BULLSEYE
There they go again - Congress cannot change.
The Congress Caste Chemistry allied with Global Sectarian Forces.
Attacking India's Religion - finding faults on behalf of other Religions.
As brokers for Global Religions - The Congress can never see faults in them.
The Author's preference for chastising The Cowboys - for fundamentalism.
All Religions equally to blame for respective fundamentalism - can't be condoned.
But Tharoor and his Congress seem obsessed - exposing their 70 year mind set.
For all to see - why India had no chance against China, with Leadership like this.
Pakistan has a challenge - to find better protagonists to slay Hinduism.
In Tharoor and the Party that ruled India for 70 years - Pakistan's hit bullseye.
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abbastoronto Feb 20, 2018

Creation/Evolution debate is irrelevant.

All agree that humans evolved. For Creationists it was sudden, for evolutionists gradual.

Western civilization and its science are linear - Cartesian metrics, calculus, differential equations, Linear Algebra, computers, Theory of Relativitiy on a differential manifold.

So is its nature of time. Linearity leads to an unrealistic lifespans - into billions of years.

But life and world is non-linear, so is Creationist view of time, thus realistic.

The linear West despite all the achievements in science is below replenishment, losing the only game in town - Survival, Growth, Evolution. East is non-linear and is winning.

Thuroor, a product of Indian Westernization, should learn of Asian wisdom.
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Ch Billy Feb 20, 2018

Enough is enough!! I have seen enough of Congress politicians (Congress is the party in opposition in the Indian parliament) of which Shashi Tharoor is one, who would use global platforms to spread misinformation about the ground situation in India. For shouting out loud, Congress, when it was in power in India for most of India's independence heavily undermined science and scientific research by giving a pittance, as a percentage of GDP, to scientific research and majorly screwing up administration in premier scientific institutions by appointing lackeys as heads who would do the congress political favors. They have done more harm to science than anyone can fathom. It is rich of Shashi Tharoor to come back and accuse BJP of waging a war on science when they are taking genuine efforts to improve the condition of scientific establishment in India. Besides, the minister did not say he rejects theory of evolution based on religious beliefs because he is a Hindu and some of the several contradictory Hindu religious beliefs are actually in line with evolution which Tharoor has himself mentioned in his latest book "Why I am Hindu". He said he is up for a debate about the validity of evolution and is ready to accept on the basis of solid evidence in favor of evolution. isn't that scientific temperament. To question and look for evidence is everyone's right. Otherwise, scientific establishments are heading to become global hegemons. I would request this website to please give at least a disclaimer before giving a platform to a political opportunist like Tharoor. It will do the rest of the world a favor.
- ramji yahoo mahadevan Feb 20, 2018
  
  But Modi and Arun Jatley made us to say that Congress is better than BJP in Governance and execution. Atlaji's ruling was 1000 times betetr than of Modi's
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B S Feb 20, 2018

Sciences is in trouble . The attack however, is not confined to one political party, though one finds an aggravating assault which makes us hang our heads in shame .... needless to say we in india are becoming a laughing stock for the world . Recently in the literate and aware kerala a politician made a claim that the Japanese are funding drinking water supply in the state only this will ensure cloud formation over western ghats which could be carried to Japanese coasts and improve precipitation there . What ridiculous stuff . I hope the scientists do a “ man ke bath “ for the political leadership in the country first . Pl give it a serious thought
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