Noted scientist P. M. Bhargava, who returned the Padma Bhushan recently, argues that “Our scriptures put no bar on our eating beef”.
Quoting Charaka Samhita, the ancient treatise on medicine, he says: “The flesh of the cow is beneficial for those suffering from the loss of flesh sue to disorders caused by an excess of vayu, rhinitis, irregular fever, dry cough, fatigue, and also in cases of excessive appetite resulting from hard manual work”.
In his letter dated November 6 to President Pranab Mukherjee returning his Padma Bhushan award conferred in 1986 by then President, Giani Zail Singh, the 87-year-old Bhargava expresses concern that the space for dissent, which is the hallmark of a democracy, is decreasing and intolerance increasing. Minorities are made to feel like they are second-class citizens of the country. There are organised attempts to impose the Hindutva agenda. Cultural intolerance is a dominant element in the functioning of the current Government, he said.
Bhargava said: “The returning of the award is an expression of my concern at the prevailing socio-politico situation in the country.”
According to the Constitution, Article 51a (h), one of the duties of our citizens is “to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform”. Steeped in superstition, unreason and irrationality, much of what the RSS and BJP say goes against the grain of scientific temper.
Scientific temper
The current NDA Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “the least knowledgeable and least concerned about science”, says Bhargava, who founded the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad.
“I am a professional scientist with experience of 65 years. I have had the occasion of interacting on matters with governments at the Centre since Independence,” says Bhargava, who also feels that “The climate of religious conservatism that we have today is a major obstacle in the functioning of science and, thus, meeting developmental objectives”.