Urban Naxals: The Making of Buddha in a Traffic Jam

by Vivek Agnihotri

At IIT Bombay, I meet Professor Bapat and his colleagues. This is the computer science department which most toppers of JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) opt for. These are some of the best professors in India with several innovations and patents in their bags. It’s said that when these professors walk, instead of footprints they leave behind innovations. Despite such achievements and contribution to India’s technological growth, the head of the department and his colleagues aren’t happy people since Narendra Modi won the elections. Professor Bapat tells me that all his life he has been attending the Indian Science Congress and various conferences to speak on Vedic science, but since Modi became PM, wherever he speaks on Vedic science, people start calling him Sanghi. He is worried about such intolerance. He has been able to overcome the biggest of the scientific challenges but sees himself failing in front of this emerging political intolerance of an idea that is rooted in Hindu traditions and history. He feels an organized campaign is being run to demoralize such citizens who take pride in Hindu civilization and its traditional knowledge systems.