‘Could be from Nazi playbook’

A HINDU group in India, Garbh Vigyan Sanskar Project, promises to help Indian couples conceive “superior” babies with high IQS and fairer skin than their parents.

Indian media have said the move is “straight out of the Nazi playbook”.

Eugenics, the science of improving the human race through selective breeding, was popular in the first half of the 20th century and, notably, applied by the Nazis.

Hitler and his “angels of death” experimented with breeding twins, freezing, sterilisation and fertility, and blood coagulation.

News that researchers used cloning to make human embryos to produce stem cells may have some wondering if it would be possible to clone a person.

Although unethical, experts say it is biologically possible.

These Indians have the audacity to dabble in what they call “the scientific purification of the womb”, conjuring up distorted images of delivering babies of top-class mental, physical and spiritual quality.

The architects claim the secrets are found in ancient Hindu texts. Such a farce may thrive in India’s caste-conscious and sectarian society, but it’s outrageous and devalues human life.

Here at home, families fuss over the arrival of “a little angel”, in the Indian context. While a mother has to put up with childbirth, everyone wants to see a new addition, many to comment, especially myopic mothers-in-law. “He has his father”s nose or “she has his curly hair”, they say.

This homecoming in SA Indian society is more realistic than our Indian counterparts who dream of superior babies with fairer skins. KEVIN GOVENDER

Shallcross