Culturally dwarfed entities, which may be diffident about the future, tend to grasp at any shadow of real or imagined past greatness to make sense of the present. The orchestrated campaign of self-glorification of the Hindu Right falls in this category. The latest manifestation of their irrational exuberance came at the annual session of the Indian Science Congress in Mumbai, inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi. Regrettably, the PM came away without warning the purveyors of falsehood against seizing a forum of scientists — whose work revolves around evidence and reasoning — for their crude ends.
For the sake of discussion, let’s fall for the saffron yarn woven at the science congress — that the ancient Indians could send out planes on inter-planetary missions. “So what?”, it’s logical to ask. “What good is that to us now when we are unable to put together even a decent car with our own design and technology, leave alone an aircraft?”
But that doesn’t impress the religious Right. It has a vicious agenda which can’t be quelled by asking logical questions. In singing of past greatness, the Sangh Parivar’s purpose is to suggest subliminally to Hindus that the advances they made were stopped with the arrival of Islam — and later Christianity — on the scene. There can hardly be any question about the dazzling contributions of ancient India to multiple fields, including science. But these became well known to us, and duly became part of our cultural DNA, long before the RSS appeared on the scene.
Nevertheless, the followers of the Parivar seek to spread the tale that they alone take pride in India’s past achievements, just as they spread the word that they alone are patriotic. Those who differ with their myopic view of the world are sought to be put down as Marxists or colonial apologists.
It’s time the lid came off the hypocrisy and we recalled that some of the most elaborate expositions of advances made in ancient India have come from the writings of Marxists (literally), as in the case of Professor Irfan Habib (a Muslim, to boot) or Mahapandit Rahul Sankirtyayan. In fact, it is hard to recall anyone inspired by the narrow religious chauvinism of the saffron variety who has made a serious study of our ancient past that would stand up to intellectual scrutiny.
The fanatics are not only going on about “ghar wapsi” and alliterating about “Ramzada” and “haramzada”, imperilling the social cohesiveness of the country, but are also seizing top bodies of scientists and historians to propagate their low philosophy. They believe they have gained the levers of power.
