Biplab Deb, who is the chief minister of the north-eastern state of Tripura, has become an international clown after claiming that the Internet was invented thousands of years ago by ancient Indians. He now competes as the world’s least intelligent person with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan who claimed that Muslims discovered America.
He has been the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is a right-wing party associated with Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He took his oath as the 10th Chief Minister of Tripura in March and then made a fool of himself in April.
His evidence? He noted that the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata involved a character who was able somehow to describe a battle many miles away. The answer? Hindus invented the Internet some 3000 years ago. Makes sense, right? Rather than question the 3000 year old Sanskrit poem and artistic license, it is easier to believe that the Internet was invented in the Bronze or early Iron periods. He declared skeptics to be “narrow-minded”:
“Narrow minded people find it tough to believe this. They want to belittle their own nation and think highly of other countries. Believe the truth. Don’t get confused and confuse others . . . India has been using internet since ages. In Mahabharata, Sanjay was blind but he narrated what was happening in the battlefield to Dhritarashtra anyway. This was due to internet and technology. Satellite also existed during that period . . . Some European countries and the US claim that the modern communication system were their invention, but we had all these technologies in ancient times.”
He did not back down after receiving ridicule around the globe. In a later interview when asked about the controversy, he stated:
Whether Mahabharat, Ramayana or Upanishad, these are the empirical texts of our culture. If a person sitting in a palace can narrate what is happening in a battlefield 50 km away, there must have been some technique. Ordinary eyes do not have the facility to see such things. This was a particular technology, in the name of Sanjaya, which is akin to the Internet of today. Now if some of my friends raise questions on proof, then I would say that the proof lies in the Internet technology of today. Those who cannot understand, and feel that to oppose they must run down Indian culture and civilisation and aggrandise Western culture, they are provoked by my statements.
For example, how did the Wright Brothers think up of aeroplanes? They watched birds fly and conceived of a technology that could make a plane that flew. Thus Sanjaya’s use of a technology that could see events far away proves the superiority of Indian civilisation. Those who do not believe in Rama will question his existence. In the time of Rama, there was the Sarayu river, now too it is there. I am born of my mother, why do I believe that, because my mother told me so.
If Deb wanted to prove the “superiority of Indian Civilization,” this is not the way. Instead, it raises serious questions over the state of Indian education.
Is Al Gore a Hindu?
Well, some people believe in Atlantis, and The Lost Continent of Mu, and others ask:
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Ancient Hindus invented the Internet,
Al Gore invented the Internet,
Therefore, Al Gore is an ancient Hindu.
Which demonstrates that at least one of the first two clauses is false.
Oh well, the holographic universe at work..
Any difference between him and people like Schiff that insist Russians ensured Trump’s electon in 2016?
Don’t be ridiculous. Al Gore invented the internet…
Bwahahaha. You see, this is why I could never be a diplomat.
Turley, your comment section is a swirling cesspool. And it’s easy to figure out why.
William Bayer:
No surprise. You’ve commented six times. Talk about no self-awareness.
How many times have you commented, counselor? And I’m not aware of your definition of “self-awareness” or the lack thereof. Nor am I aware of any quantitative measurement concerning “self-awareness.”
Is it measured in inches, pounds, or cubic yards.
Thanks for your previous input on another matter that I couldn’t figure out, but concerning this issue, you contributed NOTHING but another clubbish voice concerning the sick “I was here before you were” society that infests this “comment section” — LOL — and its “Civility Rules.”
A pack of hyenas, the same or worse than any other comment section on the web. Nothing to recommend it over the worst leftist site (my vote goes to Mother Jones) or the worst right-wing site (my vote goes to Infowars). This comment section is just the same nonsense dress up in an extremely weird costume.
Lots but as any sentient being can distinguish I wasn’t complaining about the quality of the commentary as you were.
Hey, look the Egyptians invented submarines, helicopters and delta wing fighters!! So, ipso facto, the Romans had laser weapons and anti-ballistic missiles to defeat them. Speculation is grand.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/weird/641465/Proof-of-time-travel-Riddle-of-planes-and-helicopter-found-in-Egyptian-hieroglyphs
Yes, of course, but how much did the Egyptians pay for a fajita?
Diane – if they come to Arizona, we don’t change prices by ethnicity. We are pretty egalitarian, pricewise. We also price match at major stores.
Why do you asp? You know they gyped the vendor. Your comment sphinx!
It’s hardly surprising, given the basic Hindu belief that everything is cyclical — that the universe has been created, destroyed, and created again many times over.
What’s surprising is that the guy singled out the internet — although that might only be the part of what he said that got quoted.
I love the way westerners will jump all over eastern religion/philosophy, under the pretense that there’s some greater level of rationality about their own beliefs that some guy spoke with a burning bush, or some other guy was killed and then — wait for it — rose again!
My goodness. What a wittily cruel observation to brighten the beginning of a dark rainy day. Cheers.
Neither dark nor rainy here. I guess I’m not near enough to the center of the universe where you live.
The “Lost City of Atlantis” written by Greek philosopher Plato about 360 BC is probably more believable. It was an advanced civilization located near the Pillars of Heracles. Today, these are known as the Straits of Gibraltar, the area between Spain and Africa.
See Rupert Furneaux’s general audience writing. The best guess is that ‘Atlantis’ is a garbled account of Minoan civilization.
TJ – I think Plato was right about the civilization and that it was destroyed. However, he was wrong about where they were located, how they were destroyed. and when.
Al Gore was an ancient Hindu? Who knew? Must be connected to reincarnation, since as old as he looks, he doesn’t look that old.
My thoughts exactly !
Jay S – I had considered that, but then got past it. 😉
Al Gore’s “I invented the internet” comment is probably going to dog him all the rest of his days ! Think twice, speak once.
No. It goes back farther. And in another part of the world. It was called The Chink Net.
I accidentally clicked on this link https://jonathanturley.org/2014/11/17/erdogan-muslims-discovered-america-before-columbus/ which led me to a Nov. 2014 related post. There were 66 comments, many from the same people as inhabit this blog now, and everyone was amazingly civil. There were what appeared to be Muslim posters who were treated with respect. Ideas were discussed without personal attacks. Serious question, what happened between Nov. 2014 and now to cause the change?
Uh. What happened?
“Serious question, what happened between Nov. 2014 and now to cause the change?”
That’s an easy one. I read about it on April 21, 2016 at the UPI website. For some reason I can’t locate that article any more, but here’s an LA Times article from a couple of weeks later on May 9, 2016 that explains it:
“Be nice to Hillary Clinton online — or risk a confrontation with her super PAC”
“Hillary Clinton’s well-heeled backers have opened a new frontier in digital campaigning, one that seems to have been inspired by some of the Internet’s worst instincts. Correct the Record, a super PAC coordinating with Clinton’s campaign, is spending some $1 million to find and confront social media users who post unflattering messages about the Democratic front-runner.”
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-clinton-digital-trolling-20160506-snap-htmlstory.html
The UPI article cited more specific information, about the Correct-the-Record (aka David Brock) $1 million budget to hire online trolls, the mission, etc.
Anyway, prior to that one could have not only civil but intelligent discourse at many sites regardless of one’s viewpoint. All of those sites have since been taken over by juvenile, mean-spirited trolls. Their intent is to drag the discourse into the toilet and generally pollute the public forum. I fled that spreading nonsense from one site, to the next, to the next — finally arriving at conservative sites that I’d never before visited because one could at least have intelligent discourse with the few posters who were intelligent. But then the hired trolls showed up there also.
Literally the ONLY thing that interested me about commenting at Turley’s site was the “Civility Rules” — LOL, funny joke.
And here’s another article about the hired pollute-and-swarm tactics of Clinton, which came out the same day as I read about it at the UPI website.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/4/21/1518537/-Clinton-SuperPac-Admits-to-Paying-Internet-Trolls
Note that it mostly references the war between Clinton and Sanders, but obviously that’s because this occurred while Hillary was trying to lock up a nomination that she did nothing to deserve. It’s not like the nonsense was discontinued after Sanders was defeated. After that, it was just redirected at Trump supporters and/or anyone that clearly wasn’t a Clinton supporter. And the money behind it has certainly grown, and the hiring standards and tactics have certainly dived deeper and deeper into the dumpster, and the futility of even attempting to have civil or intelligent discourse has grown exponentially.
Bayer, you’re complaining about the lack of civility here?
Physician heal thyself.
He also claims to be non-partisan such lack of self awareness.
Another jackass ad hominem statement. There are plenty of criticisms of both parties I’ve posted over the years, from half-a-decade ago and continuing right up until this morning. You don’t even know my voting record, and are posting irresponsible nonsense such as the comment I responded to was talking about.
Another jackass ad hominem statement
You are a remarkably self unaware person, Bayer.
Identify the lack of civility in the comment you refer to here. You can’t, because you’re 100% undiluted ad hominem — NOTHING in your statement directed to the content of my comment concerning how hired trolls were knowing employed (by people with identities concealed and likely multiple accounts).
People such as you are an internet infestation, disinterested in legitimate discourse.
“People such as you are an internet infestation”
Sez the champion of civility!
Bayer, don’t you read your own comments? 😂
So if I’m understanding you correctly, the main (only?) reason is Hillary trolls infecting the site? Not sure that’s what I’m observing but you’re entitled to your opinion.
I recognize Paul Schulte, Karen S., Darren Smith, Squeaky Fromm, Justice Holmes, and Slorhss29. The last two in that 2014 offered one (sarcastic) sentence each about the matter at hand. Squeaky Fromm is a kook; however, her grossly rude remarks are directed at off-stage abstractions, not other commenters; she also has a thick hide. Neither Darren or Karen attack other posters and the worst Paul does is stick a needle into Mark M (whose posts are almost invariably puerile). If you had comment boards consisting of these six people, you wouldn’t have too much ruin.
The site is lightly moderated. Generally that’s a good thing. ‘Civility’ has a tendency to decay into what Glenn Reynolds calls ‘civility bulls!it’, wherein the fraud moderator uses false claims to get rid of dissidents and protect pet commenters. (Rod Dreher does that, to take one example). For whatever reason, it attracts some genuinely strange people (one neo-Nazi and three peddlers of political paranoia). It also attracts people whose posts consist of taunts or barfed up emotion. And then there is the pair who just have to have the last word. Dozens of posts getting narrower and narrower and narrower.
A few years ago, the poster comments were worse. JT use to post moderation warnings.
Anyone remember posters Annie “the sock puppet”, Max-1 the gay guy or Judge Dredd?
Oh, i miss them….so entertaining!
“Lightly moderated,” is an overstatement. At best, offensive posts are removed and the offender is free to go on and do what they were doing. I have no reason to believe they are even aware their posts are being removed or they’re being told to stop. I have communicated directly with Turley about this, if anything more is being done than removing posts, he hasn’t communicated it. He did suggest he was “trying” to ban a particular poster but was so far unsuccessful.
enigma – people have been ‘disappeared’ for various lengths of time by Turley. Some have been disappeared permanently, I think, or they have just left.
I can only speak about the situation of which I have knowledge where the only action taken was removing posts and alleged attempts to block someone. I have a chain of emails and responses.
enigma – Trump Derangement Syndrome, that is the difference between then and now. Plus, we have some Russian bots.
Paul – I’ll readily agree there is such a thing as Trump Derangement Syndrome, there seems to be a Hillary Derangement Syndrome as well, in addition for some reason, a DNC Syndrome. I promise the DNC plays almost no role in the life of a Democrat. Most probably couldn’t identify Tom Perez as the current Chairman.
In 2016 we had an unparalleled Presidential election in which the two worst candidates ever nominated with the possible exception of Aaron Burr faced each other. Civility had already been trending south when this disaster occurred, but the 2016 election absolutely buried it.
Let’s hope for a comeback.
the two worst candidates
Actually, if you run down the list of consequential presidential candidates who’ve run in the last 60 years, Trump is among the most accomplished of the lot (looking outside electoral politics). Mitt Romney, Wesley Clark, and Ross Perot are in his league. You could make a case that Bob Kerrey, George Bush the Elder, and perhaps Stuart Symington are as well. But that’s it.
You left out Eisenhower…
I would say that having a pivotal role in orchestrating the fall of Nazi Germany exceeds any accomplishment held by anyone else in your list.
Perhaps an oversight?
No, I didn’t. He last ran for office in 1956, which is more than 60 years ago. Basic arithmetic, it’s great stuff.
You’re right, my mistake.
Have a great week.
wildbill99 – That would be nice!
Hoping for a return of civility in our current political environment reminds me of Dr. Johnson’s observation on second marriages, that they represented ‘The triumph of hope over experience’.
Cordially, Bill
Illiterates are eligible to be Chief Ministers in India (as elsewhere). After all, in a democracy, illiterates also deserve representation, as do buffoons.
Actually, I would keep an open mind on this. There is much in India mythology that cannot be explained away easily.
“It is good to have an open mind but not so open that your brains fall out.”
If Sanjay used the internet to narrate what was happening in the battlefield 50 km away to Dhritarashtra, then the narration of the battle must be revisionist history.
Given that the narration of the battle is not revisionist history,
It follows that Sanjay did not use the internet to narrate what was happening in the battlefield.
(Modus Tollens)
Looks to be that your brains fell out.
Pretzels never fall out.
David Benson – read Weart. 😉
Been there; done that.
Can’t you manage something original?
David Benson – you couldn’t, why should I? You are my hero. Lead and I but follow. 🙂
The first time about brains falling out on this blog. And I carefully quoted.
Which you failed to do.
Use whatever wits you haven’t dissipated…
David Benson – I said lead, not order.
I was cadet commander of my Civil Air Patrol Cadet squadron in high school.
David Benson – so, you are incapable of leading? 😉
Oh, I led. I was especially good as drill master.
David Benson – you commanded, you didn’t lead.