StudentsPledge News Dated 25.10.2023 –
Opposing the unscientific claims made in NCERT reading module, AIDSO General Secretary, Sourav Ghosh said in a press release:
NCERT has released a document, “Chandrayan Utsav”, to celebrate the success of Chandrayan mission and this document has been prescribed for school students across the country. While acknowledging the role of scientists and appreciating them for the success of Chandrayan- 2, AIDSO All India Committee expresses deep anguish at the unscientific claims made by NCERT in the module. “Chandrayan Utsav” mentions that space science is not a new phenomenon in India and that it can be traced all the way back to the Vedic age. By citing the example of “Pushpaka Vimana”, the document says that it was used by Gods to travel from one planet to another. It also claims that the book Vaimanika Shastra is scientific evidence to prove that Indians had advanced scientific knowledge about aeronautics! While such unscientific claims, propagated with an agenda, run rampant on social media, to find them in a module prescribed for school students is a cause of grave concern. Pushpaka Vimana is a beautiful mythological imagination. Mention of such similar imaginary flying vehicles can be found in Greek Mythology and other mythological texts across the world! The book Vaimanika Shastra, claimed to be written during Vedic times, has been exposed as a book written in 1923, through a thorough scientific examination of the book by the Indian Institute of Science. Such unscientific claims will distort real scientific advancement taking place in the country and more importantly, it destroys the scientific bent of mind and rational thinking among students.
AIDSO Demands NCERT to immediately withdraw this module from “Bharat’s expedition to the Moon” and calls upon all science-loving and education-loving people of the country to remain vigilant against the spread of unscientific and obscurantist ideas which are forever against the development of scientific bent of mind and true knowledge.
