From Ganesha's Surgery To Internet In Mahabharat Times, Here Are Most Epic Quotes By Ministers

We are living in a crazy time where our politicians just don't leave a chance to shock us by their knowledge. And for some reason, most of them are obsessed with linking every modern invention/discovery to ancient India, the Mahabharata and Ramayana age. Be it aircraft, nuclear bombs, plastic surgery, stem cell technology and even internet, we are made to believe that they all existed during the so called golden age.

Here are some of the most controversial quotes:

Prime Minister Modi on Ganesha's plastic surgery and Karna born though genetic science

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had courted controversy in 2014 by mainstreaming the long-held myth of advanced medical practices in ancient India.

BCCL/File

Speaking at an event in Mumbai in 2014, the PM endorsed the view saying. "Mahabharata says Karna was not born out of his mother's womb. This means people then were aware of genetic science. There must have been a plastic surgeon who fixed an elephant's head on Ganesha".

Nuclear test in India in 2nd century BC

Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister and current BJP MP Ramesh Pokhriyal shared his wisdom inside the parliament, while defending PM Modi's plastic surgery and genetic science comment.

Pokhriyal not only was sure that there was advance medical science in ancient India, but further went on to claim that an ancient sage, Kanad, who is believed to have lived around the 2nd century BC, had conducted a nuclear test during his time.

¡°Today we are talking about nuclear tests. Lakhs of years ago, Sage Kanad had conducted a nuclear test. Our knowledge and science do not lack anything,¡± he said in the Lok Sabha.

Indian man invented plane before Wright Brothers

Former Mumbai Police Commissioner and current MoS Human Resource Development Satyapal Singh has a long list of achievements by ancient Indians that today's generation doesn't know.

One of them was Shivakar Babuji Talpade, who he said was the first to invent the airplane eight years before the Wright brothers. He also wanted IIT students to be taught about 'Pushpak Vimaan¡¯, the flying chariot mentioned in Ramayana.

Nobody saw ape turning into human

Once again, this piece of wisdom comes from Satyapal Singh himself, who is incidentally an MPhil in Chemistry. To discredit Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution, Singh had the best/ worst logic possible - Nobody saw ape turning into humans.

¡°Nobody, including our ancestors, in written or oral, have said they saw an ape turning into a man,¡± he said. ¡°No books we have read or the tales told to us by our grandparents had such a mention,¡± the minister added.

Mantras codified ¡®laws of motion¡¯ before Isaac Newton

After Darwin, Satyapal Singh went after Sir Isaac Newton. According to him there are mantras that codified the ¡®laws of motion¡¯ much before they were framed by Isaac Newton.

¡°There are mantras which codified ¡®laws of motion¡¯ much before it was discovered by the Newton. Hence it is essential that traditional knowledge must be incorporated in our curriculum,¡± said Singh.

Brahmagupta II gave the Gravitation Theory before Newton

According to Rajasthan Education Minister Vasudev Devnani it was an Indian who came up with the gravitational law first. Brahmagupta II, a seventh century astronomer gave the law of gravitation 1,000 years before Newton.

He had earlier "citing scientific researches" stated that cow is the only animal that inhale, and exhale oxygen.

Cancer is divine justice for past sins

Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is of the opinion that people suffer from life-threatening diseases such as cancer because of sins committed in the past which he called "divine justice".

"God makes us suffer when we sin. Sometimes we come across young men getting inflicted with cancer or young men meeting with accidents. If you observe the background you will come to know that it's divine justice. Nothing else. We have to suffer that divine justice," Sarma said.

Internet during Mahabharata

Coming to one of the most recent ones... Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb came up with the idea that "internet existed in the days of Mahabharata.

PTI

"India has been using internet for ages. In Mahabharata, Sanjay was blind but he narrated what was happening on the battlefield to Dhritarashtra anyway. This was due to internet and technology. The satellite also existed during that period," he said.

Narada Muni was like Google

Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani feels Narada Muni from Indian mythology and Google are similar as the sage "was a man of information; who had information of the whole world he acted on these information collecting information was his dharma for the betterment of the humankind, and it is very much required."

BCCL/File

¡°Google is the source of information just like Narada, because he knew everything happening in the world," he said.