Miscellaneous - This Day That Age   

dated January 17, 1957: Controversy deplored

Prime Minister Nehru has advised doctors not to "get into grooves" and claim that they alone possess the key to the riddle of life. Inaugurating the Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education in Calcutta on January 16, he referred to the controversy among the allopathic, homoeopathic and other systems of medicine and said that if they did that, they were doomed. With all the goodwill in the world, he failed to understand what the controversy was about. "Surely the way of science is to examine things and find out what is the right way to pursue and not to begin with axioms, which ultimately turned into incontrovertible truths, tying you down and not allowing you to deviate. And you must accept change, whenever you find something else appears." Recalling that in ancient times the Indian systems of medicine were so advanced that even the Caliph of Baghdad Haroun Al Raschid called an Indian doctor from Texila to treat him, Mr. Nehru said the point, however, was "not what you do, but how you do it and the state of mind you adopt." Referring to the allopathic system, he said he did not understand the precise meaning of it. (The Chief Minister of West Bengal, Dr. B.C. Roy, interjected amidst laughter: All paths). Mr. Nehru said he did not doubt that Ayurveda was equipped with helpful knowledge, but if they thought that it held the secret of the universe he was not prepared to accept this.

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