Draft:Hindutva and pseudoscience

Hindutva and Hindu nationalist ideology have been criticized for promulgating and promoting pseudoscientific views.

These pseudoscientific views manifest in a variety of disciplines, including aeronautics, archaeology, history, and medicine.

The assertions of Hindu nationalists extend beyond individual beliefs, influencing academic discourse. Recent reports highlight the infiltration of pseudoscientific ideas into academic circles, raising concerns about the integrity of scientific education in India.

Aeronautics
Hindutva ideologues have asserted that ancient Hindu texts contain knowledge of advanced aircraft technology. As an example, proponents of such views cite the Vaimānika Shāstra, a text written in the 20th century by Pandit Subbaraya Shastry (1866–1940), who claimed the contents of the text were "psychically delivered" to him by the ancient Hindu sage Bharadvaja.

During the 2015 Indian Science Congress, Hindu nationalists suggested ancient Indian civilization was possessed with advanced technologies equal to or surpassing modern understanding, such as interplanetary spaceflight.

Medical pseudoscience
The promotion of medical pseudoscience is also prevalent, with proponents elevating traditional practices like Ayurveda to the status of verified scientific disciplines. The scientific consensus is that Ayurveda is a pseudoscience, because its premises are not based on science, so promoting it as a comprehensive alternative to modern medicine without rigorous scientific scrutiny is misleading and dangerous.