*Descent into an era of darkness!* *In so many ways!* In the (very justified) outrage and din over the (so very absurd) deletion of Mughal rule over very large parts of this land from the history textbook of the NCERT and such others, the shocking assault on (modern) "science" proper has gone rather unnoticed.
Now it'd be systematically drilled into young minds and they would be schooled to unquestioningly and uncritically accept that it is Lord Shiva who had (originally) employed "plastic surgery" (not even "organ transplant"!) to produce the elephant-headed god Lord Ganesha! (Ref.: < https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/28/indian-prime-minister-genetic-science-existed-ancient-times >.) It's precisely in this context, a somewhat recent observation of an eminent and illustrious public intellectual from the subcontinent turns out to be so very tellingly prophetic: "(T)here are paradoxes and contradictions that Hindutva cannot escape as it seeks to banish Nehru. All Indians, including right-wingers, take great pride in their country’s scientific achievements. But imagine for a moment that Narendra Modi, not Jawaharlal Nehru, had been India’s prime minister in 1947. What might have today’s India looked like in scientific terms? "Instead of being noted for its exceptional space programme (Mangalyaan!) and brilliant string theorists (Ashoke Sen!), India would have become a garbage dump for every kind of crackpot science. Medical research would have concentrated on medicines made from cow urine and cow dung, the celibacy of peacocks would be under intense scrutiny, astrology would be taught in place of astronomy, and instead of teaching actual mathematics there would be Vedic mathematics. *As in Pakistan, Darwinian evolution would be considered heretical and destructive of religious faith* [emphasis added now]. "Nehru’s stamp upon Indian science can be seen across the length and breadth of India in the form of dozens of scientific institutes and universities that owe to him. India is probably the world’s only country whose constitution explicitly declares commitment to the “scientific temper” — a quintessential Nehruvian notion formulated during his years in prison. Briefly: only reason and science, not holy scriptures, provide us reliable knowledge of the physical world." (Excerpted from 'What India owes to Nehru' by Parvez Hoodbhoy at < https://www.dawn.com/news/1402940>.) "Knowledge and understanding of evolutionary biology is important not just to any subfield of biology, but is also key to understanding the world around us. Evolutionary biology is an area of science with a huge impact on how we choose to deal with an array of problems we face as societies and nations from medicine and drug discovery, epidemiology, ecology and environment, to psychology, and it also addresses our understanding of humans and their place in the tapestry of life. Although many of us do not explicitly realise, the principles of natural selection help us understand how any pandemic progresses or why certain species go extinct, among many other critical issues. "*An understanding of the process of evolution is also crucial in building a scientific temper and a rational worldview. The way Darwin’s painstaking observations and his keen insights led him to the theory of natural selection educates students about the process of science and the importance of critical thinking. Depriving students, who do not go on to study biology after the 10th standard, of any exposure to this vitally important field is a travesty of education*. [Emphasis added now.] "We, the undersigned scientists, science teachers, educators, science popularisers and concerned citizens disagree with such dangerous changes in school science education and demand to restore the theory of Darwinian evolution in secondary education." (Excerpted from the report below.) *NCERT Books: 1,800 scientists, researchers demand restoration of Darwin’s evolution theory* https://news.careers360.com/ncert-book-class-10-deleted-chapters-darwin-evolution-theory-scientist-researchers-scientific-temper -- 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 greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/greenyouth/CACEsOZgU6c2rT0Rs3-83MxBiOTBzP9v_nGPjomwH6tB0XG%2BL%2BA%40mail.gmail.com.
