Pseudoscience operates in particular social and political environments. The dominant political ideology in India today is Hindutva (“Hindu-ness”), which is associated with the conservative and nationalist governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The political aspect of this ideology seeks to define Indian culture in terms of Hindu values, and it is highly critical of the socialist and multicultural policies and practices of the former dominant Indian National Congress Party and its Western-educated elite. The principal cultural feature of Hindutva is the valorizing of ancient Hindu civilization and traditions, including its early scientific ideas. A key characteristic of this science was and is its integrative quality and its appeal to intuition as opposed to the brash rationalism of modern western science.
The Hindutva ideology involves chauvinistic claims about ancient Indian achievements, and this has led to disputes among scientists, particularly at the annual meetings of the Indian Science Congress. The 2019 Congress featured Andhra University Vice Chancellor G. Nageswara Rao, a professor of inorganic chemistry, who claimed that the Kauravas of Mahabharata, the Indian mythological epic, were born out of stem cell research and the test tube fertilization process.
THE PRINCIPAL CULTURAL FEATURE OF
HINDUTVA
IS THE VALORIZING OF ANCIENT HINDU CIVILIZATION AND TRADITIONS, INCLUDING ITS EARLY SCIENTIFIC IDEAS.
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