America discovered by 'our Indian ancestors', not Columbus: MP Education minister
Bhopal, Sep 11: Madhya Pradesh's Higher Education Minister Inder Singh Parmar has claimed that America was discovered by "our Indian ancestors", and not by Christopher Columbus as taught to students.
He also claimed students have been taught "wrong history" that Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama discovered India.
Parmar was addressing the convocation function at the Barkatullah University in Bhopal on Tuesday.
In his address, the minister said, "Columbus discovered America...Indian students had nothing to do with this. If they had to be taught, they should have also been taught how people in the post-Columbus period tortured the natives and destroyed the tribal society there, because the society was worshipper of nature, worshipper of the Sun."
"(It should have been taught) how they were killed, how they were converted. But unfortunately, the correct facts were not taught," he said.
On the contrary, Indian students are taught that Columbus discovered America, Parmar said.
"I want to say that if someone had to write, they should have written that India's great hero Vasuloon went there in the eighth century and built many temples in Santiago in America. These facts are still written in a museum there. These facts are still kept in a library there," he said.
Parmar said the students should have been taught correctly that it was "our ancestors in India" who discovered America and not Christopher Columbus.
"When we (our ancestors) went there, we cooperated with the local culture of that place, the Mayan culture which was prevalent there, in their development. This is India's thought and philosophy which needed to be taught to the students," he added.
The minister also said students have been taught that Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama discovered India.
Historians could have taught the right history by studying the autobiography of Vasco da Gama, he said.
Vasco da Gama expressed the wish to see Bharat to Chandan, a Gujarati trader, at the Zanzibar port of Africa through an interpreter, the minister said.
Chandan told Vasco da Gama to follow his ship and thus the Portuguese explorer reached India, he said.
Vasco da Gama himself wrote that Indian trader Chandan's ship was much bigger than his, but students were taught wrong history that the Portuguese explorer discovered India, Parmar said.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
