Rationalists campaign against teaching astrology in public varsities

Indira Gandhi National Open University’s (IGNOU) recent move to introduce a Master’s program in Astrology, called ‘Jyotish’, has received criticism from rationalists and science communicators. In an online campaign entitled “Astrology in Indian Universities”, they have demanded that the plan to teach the “occult practice” be rescinded. The campaign has over 800 signatories.

The signature campaign, which aims to “create public awareness and save young students from falling prey to this "pseudoscience”, differentiates astronomy from astrology. It says India’s “rich tradition of mathematical astronomy” should not be used as a “proxy” for claims that do not withstand “statistical scrutiny”. The note says “the syllabus documents of the courses devote a significant part of the syllabus to astrology”. The teaching of traditional methods of mathematical astronomy, the note reads, is only acting as a vehicle to later topics related to astrology.

Dr Vaisakhan Thampi, a physicist and a vocal critic of astrology, said this would endanger the career and future of young people. “We already have universities that offer [similar] courses. We don’t have the tiniest of evidence to suggest that celestial objects affect our well-being. Teaching this to the youth would put their career and future in danger,” he said. He added that there is a need to distinguish and emphasize astronomy from astrology.

Dr Hamid Dabholkar, son of renowned rationalist Narendra Dabholkar and a signatory to the campaign, said similar courses have been taking roots since 2001. “During the Vajpayee government, we saw a push to include astrology in academics. Astrology doesn’t have any scientific backing and teaching youngsters this would have long lasting consequences”, he said. "Our capacity as a pressure group is limited", he added.

On February 23, 2001, when Murali Manohar Joshi was the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, University Grants Commission (UGC) had issued a notification requesting Universities to submit proposals for courses in ‘Jyotir Vigyan’ or Vedic Astrology.

The controversial course, launched on June 24, is a 2-year distance- learning Master’s program. According to the official description, it is a vocational course concerned with “benefiting the society and oneself” and to make students “employable in the field”.

This is not the first time the Modi government has received criticism from the science community for promoting 'unscientific' beliefs. It received similar backlash when India’s former Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said in the 2015 Indian Science Congress that the Pythagorus theorem was discovered by Indian mathematicians. The same platform witnessed a bizarre lecture that claimed there were planes in ancient India.