The members of two Hindu right-wing groups, Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Janajagruti Samiti have come up with the most absurd claim: they have discovered the “God particle” in their ashrams and on the bodies of their followers in India and abroad. And their God particle can be stored in plastic boxes. They also announced that with this discovery they are now the sole torchbearers of Hinduism and spirituality in India. Sanatan Sanstha spokesperson Abhay Vartak held a press conference on Saturday and showed a three-minute video on how the particles appeared in various colours and later exhibited the same (glittering specks in small plastic boxes) to a thin audience of journalists.
It must be mentioned here, just a day before the press conference, the Central government informed the Mumbai High Court about its decision to ban Sanatan Sanstha under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) within the next 45 days.
Vartak claimed that the particles have been tested by scientists of both the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and Bhabha Automic and Research Centre (BARC) and it was found that they are non-metals and come in the category of inorganic matter. “These divine particles were discovered in our ashram at Phonda in Goa on the day scientists declared the discovery of the God particle from the Big Bang experiment. After conducting scientific analysis for months we found that these particles were created due to solidification of Chaitanya (divine consciousness) as they were neither metal nor plastic,” he said. He added that the particles first began appearing on Sanathan’s founder Dr Jayvant Athavale’s body on 28 March 2012.
“When he rubbed his hands together, 20 particles fell down. Since then they are being detected by hundreds of his followers in eight countries and 12 states across India,” he said.
When asked whether they were inventing the story to distract attention from the impending ban, Priyanka Lingade of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti said, “They haven’t found anything on us yet. The Centre is simply creating trouble for us.”