Science minister a victim of fake news on Hawking’s Veda remark

In his inaugural speech at the Indian Science Congress in Manipur on Friday, science and technology minister Harsh Vardhan said astrophysicist Stephen Hawking had said Vedic theories were superior to Einstein’s famous equation: e=mc2. The minister was likely unwittingly peddling fake news.

“We recently lost a renowned scientist, cosmologist Stephen Hawking. He also emphatically said on record that our Vedas might have a theory which is superior to Einstein’s theory of e=mc2,” Harsh Vardhan said. The minister did not back his claim with evidence and when questioned by reporters, asked them to find proof on their own.

The only online reference of Hawking commenting on Vedic science being superior to Einstein is a post on the website of the Hyderabad-based Institute of Science Research on Vedas. Sakamuri Sivaram Babu, who has served as a senior official at I-SERVE, has written multiple papers about the theory of creation propounded in the Vedas and claims that Dr Hawking posted a comment on one of his papers. The comment was on a fake Hawking Facebook page.

This is not the first time ministers have made claims about modern inventions made in ancient India. In January, junior HRD minister Satyapal Singh said India’s mantras codified the laws of motion before Newton. He had also termed Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution as ‘scientifically wrong. Vardhan couldn’t be reached for comment.