New Delhi: The new Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Mohan Yadav, wants to change how people view time by shifting the Prime Meridian from England’s Greenwich to Ujjain. The Prime Meridian is the longitude that is used to gauge time worldwide. Since it passes through Greenwich, the global standard of time is called Greenwich Standard of Time or GMT.
Yadav’s decision to change world time comes from his push to reject “westernization.” “It was our (Ujjain’s) time that was known in the world, but Paris started to set the time and later, it was adopted by the British who considered Greenwich the Prime Meridian,” the new MP chief minister said as he responded to a question in the state assembly.
He added that his government will work towards proving that “Ujjain is the global Prime Meridian” and “correct the time of the world”. Yadav’s claim comes from a Hindu astronomical belief that says that Ujjain was once considered India’s central meridian. The city lies at the precise point of interaction at the Tropic of Cancer. It is also the place where India’s oldest observatory is located.
While GMT was accepted as the Prime Meridian in 1888, the Indian Standard Time (IST) is 5:30 hours ahead of GMT and is calculated from Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur.
Taking a swipe at the commonly accepted Western ideas, Yadav said, “The world has two types of living beings – one who is awake during the daytime and another awake at night, so what is the logic behind changing the day at midnight?”
He added, “Westernisation is ruining the world and his government will collaborate with scientific minds to reverse this rot.” Yadav also claimed that his bid to change world time will be supported by the neighbouring states of Madhya Pradesh.
The Chief Minister, during his address at the state assembly, also criticised the globally-accepted Gregorian calendar, adding that more emphasis should be given to the Hindu calendar.
“Aryabhatta, who is a renowned mathematician, did remarkable work in aeronautics. Now, it’s time to give importance and recognition to our ancient knowledge. Vikram Samvat should be given importance over the Gregorian Calendar,” he said.
