West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankar on Tuesday echoed Tripura chief minister Biplab Deb’s reference to the Indian epic Mahabharata in order to compare modern technological inventions with mythological objects that are mentioned in the epic.
While addressing a science and engineering fair in Kolkata on Tuesday, Dhankar said that Arjun, who is one of the most popular characters in the Mahabharata, possessed arrows that had nuclear power.
The Governor also took the reference of the Indian epic Ramayana to claim that there was Udaan Khatola (flying chariots) much before the invention of aircrafts.
Also read: Internet, satellites existed during Mahabharata: Biplab Deb
“If we delve into our scriptures…plane was invented in 1910 or 1911. But in Ramayana we had Udaan Khatola,” said Dhankhar.
“In Mahabharata, we had a situation where Sanjay narrated everything and not from the battlefield .We had those arrows of Arjuna that had nuclear powers,” he further added.
The chief minister of Tripura had in April 2018, claimed that internet existed even during the days of the Mahabharata.
During a technical workshop in Agartala, he had claimed that India is the pioneer of the present day technology of internet and satellite which existed since the Mahabharata era and it can be proved from the live commentary relay of Kurukshetra battle by Sanjay to the blind king Dhritarashtra, father of the Kauravas.
According to the Tripura chief minister, technology was invented more than thousand years ago and that the National Informatics Centre (NIC) was just using it.
Dhankar’s statements drew widespread criticisms from the Indian scientists and scholars.
Eminent nuclear physicist Bikash Sinha said that Dhankar’s remarks were senseless and irresponsible.
“He has lost his mind. He should read up abit of history and try to find about the development of nuclear weapons in India,” said Sinha.