An official diary brought out at Vadodara's MS University triggered a controversy with the opposition.
An official diary brought out at the prestigious MS University in Vadodara has triggered a controversy with the opposition Congress and many academicians alleging that certain references in the diary hinted at 'saffronisation' of academic institutions.
The official diary for the Year 2017 makes some rather surprising claims. The January page hails ancient Indian physician Sushruta as the father of cosmetic surgery and the next page says nuclear technology was developed by Acharya Kanad. It also terms sage Kapil Muni as the father of Cosmology and sage Maharshi Bhardwaj as the one who discovered rockets and aeroplanes. And if that's not enough, Charak Rishi is hailed as the father of medicine and Garga Muni as the scientist of stars.
Though the diary also names some well-known scientists such as Jagdish Chandra Bose, Vikram Sarabhai, CV Raman, Ramanujan and Aryabhatt, but the references to saints and sages have kicked up a controversy. University officials say the references have been picked from controversial author-activist Dinanath Batra's books and the same was recommended by a senior syndicate member of the university.
"We recommended it. Feel nothing wrong in it... if satellites and missiles are named after our saints and scientist why not give them a place in the diary," said the syndicate member Jigesh Soni who had made the recommendation to the diary committee.
While the academicians have called it yet another move to mislead students and faculty, the opposition Congress sees a hidden agenda. "The party is doing disservice to the saints and sages by dragging them into this... its nothing but saffronisation of education," alleged Congress leader Narendra Rawat.
Academician Hemant Shah pointed out: "There is a problem in this approach... creating an impression that our culture and research was the first and best... creates confusion in the minds of students."
Over 2000 diaries have been printed for distribution amongst university well-wishers and donors.