The Indian state of Karnataka has stoked a new controversy by claiming that the Pythagorean theorem and Newton's Theory of Gravity are "Eurocentric" concepts.
The state's school authorities have described the world-famous theorem as "fake news" and the apple falling on Newton's head and other issues to be "created and propagated".
Karnataka's primary and secondary education team, which has submitted its 'Position paper on Knowledge of India', even claimed that Gravity and Pythagoras have roots in Vedic math (Between 1500 BC and 600 BC in India). This is an Indic-centered approach."
The state, in its submission, has stated that priority should be given to "India's ancient" and "traditional' knowledge", which would highlight India's cultural identity among the students.
The copy of the position papers submitted to the federal government reads: "Encouraging an attitude of questioning and not merely accepting whatever the textbooks (or print/electronic/social media) say as infallible truth, with a clear foundation of how knowledge generation takes place and how fake news such as Pythagoras theorem, an apple falling on Newton's head etc. are created and propagated."
Madan Gopal, chairman of the task force for Karnataka's Primary and Secondary Education Department, said that a lot of information is available on the internet to back his claim.
"For instance, it is believed that Baudhayan (an ancient Indian mathematician) had laid down Pythagoras' theorem in Vedic texts," Gopal added. "This is a viewpoint. You may or may not agree with it."
"Many of the theorems are debated in all international forums," Gopal said, according to the Indian news website, India Today. "Debate is part of evolving scientific temper. Accepting blindly is not correct, in my view. Let there be debate. Let there be discussions. Let there be scientific evidence and archaeological evidence."
Meanwhile, the position paper on Language education focuses on the need to learn ancient and classical languages such as Sanskrit, Persian and Pali.
In order to learn the concepts of solar eclipses and the solar system, it refers to the story of 'Taittirīya Saṁhitā' (branch of India's old school, prevalent in South India), where the Moon is said to have 27 wives, with whom he spends one night each.
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