Unsolved:2019 Indian Science Congress pseudoscience controversies

The 106th edition of Indian Science Congress was held in Punjab from January 3–7, 2019. It was inaugurated by Narendra Modi and hosted around 30,000 scientists, including six Nobel laureates. It sparked widespread controversy after two of its speakers made pseudoscientific talks purporting, among other claims, that Newton's and Einstein's theories of gravity were wrong, and that gravitational waves should be renamed to "Narendra Modi waves"; that the demon-king Ravana had 24 types of aircraft and a network of airports in modern-day Sri Lanka; that ancient Indians knew of in vitro fertilization; that Brahma invented dinosaurs; and that Lord Vishnu had heat-seeking missiles.

Pseudoscience in previous editions

There had been instances of pseudoscientific talks at previous editions of the Indian National congress, notably since the right-wing BJP government was elected in 2014. This has caused eminent scientists of Indian origin including C. N. R. Rao and Venkataraman Ramakrishnan to distance themselves from it.

Pseudoscientific talks

On the third day of the congress, an Andhra University professor G. Nageshwara Rao, in his speech made several of the controversial claims. Independent researcher Dr K.J. Krishnan also later made claims of a similar nature in his speech.

Reactions

Kamala Thiagarajan alleged that under the Bharatiya Janata Party, several scientists took part to push the views and ideals of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a right-wing Hindu nationalist organization, into the mainstream.

The congress was criticized by Amartya Sen, K. VijayRaghavan, C. N. R. Rao, as well as several scientists and distinguished personalities of India and abroad. A group of eminent Indian academics wrote to the ISC:

We are deeply shocked and disturbed that false claims based on confusing episodes in mythology and science, have been made in the 106th Science Congress that too in scientific presentations made to the Children's Science Congress. Such content in the ISC undermines the long scientific tradition of the ISC.

Such claims tarnish the image of Indian Science globally and also undermine the credibility of the genuine contributions of the great science personalities of yore, that too in front of young and impressionable minds. Stories of epics are poetic, enjoyable, rich in moral elements and in imagination but are not scientifically constructed or validated.

We hope you will find out how the speakers were deemed fit to address the gatherings and we hope stronger steps are planned to ensure that the ISCA actually promotes and advanced the cause of science.

—37 academics including Dipankar Chatterji, Jayant Narlikar, and Soumitro Banerjee

The ISC President Manoj Kumar Chakrabarti apologized and asked attendees to forget the claims made by the two scientists.

Protests

Protests were held outside the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. There were also protests by academics in all major cities of India.

Consequences

After the 106th Congress and several similar incidents over the previous few years, the Indian Science Congress established a policy that requires speakers at future conferences to be vetted and scrutinizes the content of their talks. The ISC General Secretary Premendu P Mathur said the Congress dissociates itself from the controversial statements and it will ensure that only right kinds of speakers are invited.