[While the incumbent Indian Prime Minister is presenting fiction/mythology as "facts" (of remote past), what goes relatively unnoticed is the aspect that he is pathetically unaware that "organ transplant" - head transplant must come under that category, if at all any, just does not fall under the domain of "plastic surgery". It speaks very poorly of his speech writers.
Mukul Kesavan (at < http://www.ndtv.com/article/opinion/the-prime-minister-and-early-indian-science-613890?pfrom=home-topstorie <http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ndtv.com%2Farticle%2Fopinion%2Fthe-prime-minister-and-early-indian-science-613890%3Fpfrom%3Dhome-topstorie&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNE9XGsfx0jbe__yDKf5gwwWw_DMWg>>) has made a very interesting point: "Forget the complicated reasons why these transplants can't happen, like the impossibility of getting elephant tissue to 'take' when sewn on to a human being. Just think of the physical mismatch. The average elephant's neck is more than two feet in diameter; the human neck, even if we choose a very large human, is unlikely to exceed eight inches. How would you fix the one on the other?"] From: Lokesh Malti Prakash <[email protected]> Date: Sat, Nov 1, 2014 at 12:46 AM Subject: AIFRTE condemns Prime Minister's Mythology of Science 31 Oct 2014 *AIFRTE condemns Prime Minister's Mythology of Science* Inaugurating Mukesh Ambani's new hospital in Mumbai on Saturday 25th October 2014, the Prime minister stunned the nation by claiming that the Mahabharat's story of Karna, who was not born of his mother's womb, was evidence of the fact that "genetic science" was prevalent at the time, and that worshippers of Lord Ganesh should reflect that there must have been some "plastic surgeon" who performed the "surgery" of affixing an elephant head on to a human body!! (*Full text available at* *PMO website*) This muddling up of scientific terminology with religio-mythical texts is typical of evangelists and preachers on television and at mass meetings where they impress uninformed followers of the ancient glories of a country that currently boasts of having the largest number of illiterates of any nation in the world. But to have the Prime Minister promoting such vain boasts at the inauguration of a contemporary state-of-the-art medical facility reveals the mind-set of a politician who, for all his talk of transforming India into a scientifically and technologically developed nation, is unable to intellectually rise above the limitations of his Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) training. Not surprisingly then, his views are in tune with the ideas of the likes of Dina Nath Batra, whose books the Gujarat government has introduced in all schools in the state. That such an ideology is being promoted in schools, and that the PM himself creates official opportunities to lecture students and the nation along these lines is not merely laughable or outrageous. *It is a blatant violation of the Constitution which the PM, all central and state governments and political parties are bound to defend as they derive their legitimacy and authority solely from the Constitution.* *Further, this ideology presents a real threat to any attempt at promoting rational and critical thinking among children and youth in the country.* Public figures of authority who present themselves as role models before young people should be ready to shoulder their responsibility towards the future generation. They have to overcome the desire to be ideologues and propagandists for anti-constitutional values. *AIFRTE Presidium* *Dr. Meher Engineer*, West Bengal, *Chairperson, AIFRTE;* *Ex-President,Indian Academy of Social Science; Kolkata* *Prof. Wasi Ahmed*, Bihar, *Former Joint Secretary, AIFUCTO; Patna* *Sri Prabhakar Arade*, Maharashtra, *President, AIFETO; Kolhapur* *Prof. G. Haragopal*, Andhra Pradesh, *National Fellow, ICSSR; TISS, Hyderabad* *Prof. Madhu Prasad*, Delhi, *Formerly Dept. of Philosophy, Zakir Husain College, Delhi University* *Prof. Anil Sadgopal*, Madhya Pradesh, *Former Dean, Faculty of Education, Delhi University; Bhopal* *Prof. K. M. Shrimali*, Delhi, *Formerly Dept. of History, Delhi University* *Dr. Anand Teltumbde*, West Bengal*, Professor of Management, IIT, Kharagpur* -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
