Batting for Sanskrit's resurgence, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday (May 4) hailed it as the "most scientific" and "computer-friendly" language. The CM highlighted that even NASA scientists had recognised the ancient Indian language's potential for coding and other scientific work.
Ms Gupta made the remark while speaking at the closing ceremony of a Sanskrit learning initiative that started on April 23. The Delhi government, in collaboration with the NGO Samskrita Bharati, organised the event.
"The glorious history of India is written in this language, our culture is recorded in it, and it is taught in over 60 universities across the world. While researching, I found that even NASA scientists have written research papers on it, recognising it as a scientific language, one that supports coding and commands. Sanskrit is a scientific language," said Ms Gupta during the address.
Ms Gupta argued that Sanskrit was the foundation of Indian culture as well as many Indian languages, spoken across the country.
"Every state has a mother tongue, but in reality, Sanskrit is our mother tongue as every language has descended from Sanskrit. Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Sindhi, Malayalam -- these are all branches of Sanskrit," she said.
"If India wants to become a Vishva Guru (world leader), then we must gain deeper knowledge through Sanskrit. This is the language that once ran our sciences, businesses, and culture," the CM added.
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While a section of social media users called out Ms Gupta for her statement, she may have been referring to a 1985 research paper titled, Knowledge Representation in Sanskrit and Artificial Intelligence, written by Rick Briggs, who was affiliated with NASA Ames Research Centre back then.
"Among the accomplishments of the grammarians can be reckoned a method for paraphrasing Sanskrit in a manner that is identical not only in essence but in form with current work in Artificial Intelligence," reads the abstract of Mr Briggs' research.
The Delhi CM signed off her speech, saying her government would intensify support to schools where Sanskrit was being taught to children.
