I have been a research scientist for the past 35 years and seen the movement of the country from secular, forward looking nationalist with a slight inferior complex to a disproportionately aggressive country demanding attention out of tune with its demonstrated capabilities in science. 

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Today, as never before, science in India has reasons to cry. Why this sense of gloom? Under the Nehruvian era that is being systematically removed in today’s India, one of the axioms was that technology and forward outlook to its utilisation was the way to the future. For this, both research in science and technology were crucial and were well supported but its path was left to the judgement of scientists with guidance from international scholarship. This has served the nation well. Today there is hardly a field of international research where India does not have some expertise of value. However, having spread ourselves thin, it also means that most research requires international exposure to nourish itself. This too was reasonably well served. This also means that all scientists working in conventional science have a deep connection with the world community. This is good for Indian and international science but as we shall see below, to people with a blinkered vision, this also makes them stooges of western science.

Today this entire paradigm is under review. As India begins to grow and the generation that fought for independence gives way to the post-independence generation, various questions are being asked about the fundamental assumption of science and technology and its future. As research in pure science becomes more and more involved, its direct applicability is reduced, except in terms of technological needs of science itself. With few weak bridges and tenuous links between scientific research and industrial technology, questions are being raised about the country affording financially intensive research programme of international collaboration. However, more severe is the intellectual challenge to the attitude of science and scientists. These men and women, trained in sceptical rationalist approach to studying the nature in all its aspects are unwilling to accept any claims of past glory without critically evaluated evidence and are proving to be the strongest challenge to those who wish to glorify our past beyond rationale, logic and reason.

In recent months, the fringe groups that considered scientists trained in classical objective and axiomatic thinking as decadent representatives of the west and worse, are beginning to find voice. To them these men of critical studies are dangerous propagandists of counter culture that will not glorify our past for its own sake. In a markedly regressive step, the nationalistic movement of India is reinventing (often literally) new ‘evidence’ of past glories of Indian science and technology. They demand that our past achievements, significant in their own right, should be exaggerated way beyond their natural boundaries. In this the classically trained scientists are considered more a nuisance than collaborators. They are being increasingly looked at as enemy combatants. These scientists, aware of the modern axiomatic results and the paths that have led to those discoveries, know that these achievements could not have been made in the past. Many, who are now also willing try to read the past literature appreciate both its glory and its limitations. But as the fringe nationalistic groups try to forcefully occupy the mainstream dialogue on India’s past, they are not willing to accept limitations imposed by logic. The great seers of the past were supposed to be all seeing and all-knowing, period. There may be no evidence that they knew electromagnetism or thermodynamics, which are crucial steps that lead to quantum mechanics, but the fringe groups would want us to believe that they knew of quantum mechanics and even aerodynamics. Similarly, all rational studies of ancient literature and modern sciences firmly put a time scale of human evolution, but the fringe groups, with limited patience for logic and rationality would like to completely redefine the time scales out of a false sense of pride. 

These attempts are self-defeating, but they also drag down more than just themselves. They bring down the morale of the conventional scientists and divert attention and resources away from conventional science and technologies. As the Indian Science Congress debates whether ancient Indians could make interplanetary voyages (when they had no detailed knowledge of geography beyond the Indian subcontinent – not even an idea that the earth was spherical) fundamental issues like the deeply perceptive studies of these ancient scientists in mathematics and astronomy that changed the world are not receiving attention. Indeed a stage has come where even those pointing out demonstrably impressive achievement do not find a decent audience. Conventional scientists see ghosts of ultra-nationalists in them and ultra-nationalists don’t find them committed enough! In this cacophony, our entire ancient heritage is being condemned by the heretics. 

In turn we all lose our national heritage and national pride. No one wins. The ranting of the ultra-nationalists who seem to think that a lie repeated a thousand times becomes truth – does no good to their professed desire to have Indian scientific achievements appropriately recognised. It also does not help the conventional scientists who feel hounded by these fringe elements. Even on forums for rational evaluation of past sciences, they feel squeezed out by some shrill voices.

It is not that Indian achievements were not significant for their own period. Even the most casual visitor to Indian science will feel impressed by the works of Aryabhata and his collaborators or of the zinc smelters of the past, or of the work of Kerala School of mathematics or of the secular approach of a large fraction of literature in Sanskrit with its intricate arguments on the working of the world. But the fringe elements would want everyone to believe that Indians knew of quantum mechanics, genetics, plastic surgery, interplanetary travel and much more without even the scantest of evidence that Indians had climbed even a fraction of all the necessary steps to reach there. 

For example, it is known in learned circles that the Pythagorean triplets were also discovered by Indian mathematician and the earliest reference goes back to Sulba Sutra possibly pre dating Pythagoras. But when such an assertion is also mixed with claims of invention of vimanas that could undertake interplanetary journey, the earlier claims and the claimant both get discredited. No one wins. Those who set out to restore the glory of India’s past do more damage to it.

In this cacophony, Indians stand to lose the most. It means that a rational and realistic study of India’s past is now a much maligned field which no rationalist scientist or citizen will attempt. All rational studies will be squeezed out. Studies of ancient India will become synonymous with the cacophony of the fringe groups of ultra-nationalists. 

Equally important, the conventional rationalist scientists will find their own work space squeezed as they begin to deal with a government that is influenced by parochial consideration. Pure excellence will give way to committed excellence – an oxymoron idea. There is no such thing as committed excellence. You cannot see white colour while wearing blue sunglasses. Some may be able to deduct the possibility of white colour where they see uniform bright blue, but most will live under the impression that the world is blue. The result is that those who can see other shades will be outcast, forced to find companionship only amongst those who do not wear sunglasses or go away to places where sunglasses are not a norm (or worse, start wearing sunglasses themselves). We will all be poorer for it and our reputation will take a plunge, from which we will be hard pressed to come back. 

So what should we do? For one, the fringe groups need to be exposed for what they are. This will require a concerted effort and scientists will have to shed their conventional shyness. We will have to educate people as to why the claims of the fringe group are nonsense without appearing ignorant or condescending of the past. For this, the conventional scientists will have to arm themselves with a better understanding of the true achievements of the past, and then step forward and take on the fringe groups who are well organised, well-funded, shrill and increasingly tolerated if not encouraged by the powers that be. This will be a distraction but the battle is for the soul of the nation, no more, no less. A battle is not far, and it will be brutal, large and long. It will have to be fought on every forum and every place, from Indian Science Congress to the newspapers and public forums. But those who care for the soul of Mother India and desire a rational nation to emerge will have to join the battle and accept distraction, destruction, death and cruelty along the way. Those who think this is an exaggeration should look at the number of senior scientists who have been forced to vacate their places in recent times which will now be filled by committed scientists or the terms like Sanskrit Science being tossed around. Let it not be said that we were not warned.

Dr Mayank Vahia is a scientist working at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research since 1979. His main fields of interest are high-energy astrophysics, mainly Cosmic Rays, X-rays and Gamma Rays. He is currently looking at the area of archeo-astronomy and learning about the way our ancestors saw the stars, and thereby developed intellectually. He has, in particular, been working on the Indus Valley Civilisation and taking a deeper look at their script.