MYTHOLOGY

Internet in Mahabharata: Tripura CM, governor defend claims after uproar

Biplab Deb with Tathagata Roy Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb (left) with senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi and Governor Tathagata Roy (right) | Twitter handle of Tathagata Roy

Even as Twitter and other social media platforms are awash with jokes after Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb claimed the internet existed during the Mahabharata era, the CM reiterated his statement on Wednesday.

Deb declared only the 'narrow-minded' would find it difficult to believe the 'facts' he stated. Deb claimed “They want to belittle their own nation and think highly of other countries. Believe the truth. Do not get confused and do not confuse others.”

On Tuesday, Deb had claimed at a regional workshop on computerisation in Agartala that the internet and satellites were invented by India lakhs of years ago. Deb cited the example of Sanjaya, the charioteer of the blind king Dhritarashtra, giving an account of the battle of Kurukshetra.

Deb, the state's first BJP chief minister, was quickly defended by Governor Tathagata Roy, who tweeted that the CM's claims were topical.

Roy has been in the news for his outspoken, politically incorrect tweets over the years after his appointment as governor by the Modi government.

Deb is only the latest BJP leader to be in the news over controversial views on historical and scientific events. Minister of State for Human Resources Development Satyapal Singh had claimed in February that Indian mantras had 'codified' the laws of motion long before they were propounded by Newton. Singh had previously also claimed Darwin's Theory of Evolution was wrong.

(With ANI inputs)