Not Internet, Internet Like Thing Existed In Mahabharata Era: Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy

Kolkata: Three days after supporting Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb's claims that the Internet existed in the days of Mahabharata, the state's Governor Tathagata Roy today said what he had meant was there was a possibility of something of that sort.

"See, I have not said that there was Internet at that time," Mr Roy told reporters in Kolkata.

"I had merely stated this is a thing what we are trying to find out. Unless there was a prototype of something of that sort at that time it was not possible, to conceive such a thing," he said.

In his April 17 tweet, Mr Roy said, "Tripura Chief Minister's observations about the happenings of the puranic period are topical. It is virtually impossible to conceive of devices like 'Divya Drishti', 'puspaka Ratha', etc without some kind of prototype and study there on." 

The Tripura chief minister had claimed that the Internet and sophisticated satellite communication system existed in the days of Mahabharata, drawing ridicule from his opponents, academicians and social media users who termed his contention as "unscientific", "illogical" and "retrogressive".

Mr Roy said people did not imagine mobile phones in the 1960s as there was no prototype of cellphones at that time.

So, during the time of the Mahabharata and Puranas, people must have had superhuman imagination or they must have had some kind of prototypes of these already, he said.

Mr Roy, who was West Bengal BJP unit president from 2002 to 2006, was talking to reporters on the sidelines of the launch of a book on Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee penned by him.

The Tripura governor said Syama Prasad Mookerjee was a true patriot and would vociferously protest against attacks on both Hindu and Muslim communities.

"Even legislators in British India like A K Fazlul Huq had said Syama Prasad was a true friend of Muslims," Mr Roy said.