Several people have written to me regarding a twitter war being waged between Nilesh Oak and a CK Raju.
As I am not on twitter, I asked someone else to ascertain. The debate relates to the comments on a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWH4nTlbpjk.
Clicking on the comments on that video by CK Raju leads to this Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLMba_JsUi9rei355dWrMvg.
This is NOT my Youtube channel which is in the name of Dr C. K. Raju: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzwN5fTQxA856Cu8qUnAmcA.
Below is my response to one such email that I received:
Response to email from Raja Ram Mohun Roy
Dear Dr. Roy,
Thanks for your email. I am not on Twitter and not the CK Raju with whom Nilesh Oak seems to be having some controversy, perhaps mistaking him for me. I have nothing to do with AICTE, or IEEE, Pune.
I met him once at some conference in IGNCA to which I went very reluctantly (indeed he chaired my session). As far as I can recollect, I asked him whether he was related to P. N. Oak, which he denied. I also asked him what was to be gained by ascribing such extreme antiquity to Indian tradition. (I suppose there is an audience for it.) I never subsequently interacted with him again.
I have little interest in this issue, though I broadly agree with your dates for the Vedanga Jyotish (at least its last update), and also agree that the Surya Siddhanta and its yuga system is a lot more sophisticated, hence from much later.
At the moment, I am engaged with other pressing issues, and my health is not good enough for me to dabble in such matters.
BTW, you have a very interesting name. Where exactly are you currently based?
All best,
CKR
PS As regards precise angle measurements have you checked out my theory of the kamal I located on the Lakshadweep islands long ago.. It is described in my book Cultural Foundations of Mathematics, in particular the use of a sophisticated two-scale principle, not in the so-called Vernier caliper, but for any two relatively prime numbers. Also, the Vedanga Jyotish has bhamshas, which is a fraction of a degree. How do you explain that?
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And the original email to which I responded is below
Dear Prof. Raju,
I saw that Mr. Nilesh Oak has tweeted some conversation with you challenging you for debate. In this context, I would like to draw your attention to my articles refuting claims of Mr. Oak about the antiquity of Surya Siddhanta, Sushruta Samhita and Ramayana. You can read them here starting from Surya Siddhants.
I have requested Mr. Oak multiple times for the exact list of 575+ corroborative claims from Ramayana. He has refused to produce it. You can check my conversations on Twitter:
Hope this will be of interest to you.
I had also written to AICTE and IEEE Pune against organizing Oak’s lectures.
Best regards,
Dr. Raja Roy
