Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of waging a war against science, Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday said the BJP’s version of India’s achievements in the field had “discredited” the real achievements, which, according to him, included the “first plastic surgery”.

Referring to an article he had written recently titled “India’s war on science”, Dr. Tharoor said: “It’s actually Modi’s war against science”.

Speaking at an event organised by the south Delhi chapter of the All India Professionals’ Congress (AIPC) to mark Women’s Day, Dr. Tharoor was asked about a statement made by Minister of State for Human Resource Development Satyapal Singh questioning evolution.

‘Discrediting real feats’

Terming that statement “absurd”, Dr. Tharoor said that Mr. Modi had claimed that Lord Ganesha was a result of plastic surgery.

“The irony is that what BJP elements are doing is discrediting real achievements of Indian science. The first-known surgical instruments were found in India and were dated back to the 1st century AD. There is also textual evidence of the first plastic surgery — a rhinoplasty — being conducted in India. This is something we should be proud of, but instead we talk about Ganesha’s head,” he said.

He added that Indians should be proud of the genuine achievements of Indian science, citing the work of Aryabhata that anticipated the discoveries of Galileo, Kepler and Copernicus and the description of gravity in the Rig Veda. He said there was a need to remember the real achievements, instead of the “far-flung, nonsensical version” of the BJP.

He also pitched for the inclusion of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata in school curriculum in the way The Odyssey and Illiad are taught in the West, not as “sacred text”, but as cultural stories.

Earlier during the event, Dr. Tharoor and other speakers, including former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken, discussed the party’s policies.

‘Long way to go’

Dr. Tharoor said there were “male vested interests” preventing the passing of the Women’s Reservation Bill in Lok Sabha. The Bill was passed by Rajya Sabha in 2010, but is yet to clear to be passed in Lok Sabha.

Ms. Dikshit said there was a need to have more women in politics, particularly in State Assemblies.

“I was talking to a very senior leader recently about getting more women into Assemblies and Parliament and the response I got was that ‘we can’t find women’. I said ‘what do you mean. They are there as councillors. You can find men, many of whom are crooks’. We have a long way to go,” she said.