The researcher who did this study, Joe Kirschvink had written a strong disclaimer: “Modern-day charlatans will undoubtedly seize on this study as an argument for banning the use of mobile phones, despite the different frequency bands involved.” So, as per a real scientist, Shankar’s Pakshirajan would be a charlatan, not an ornithologist!
When the film released, Deccan Herald published an article titled “”, with inputs from Dr Asad Rahmani, former director of Bombay Natural History Society. “People feel because of cell phone and mobile tower radiation, the number of house sparrows is on a decline. But the feeling is not science. There is no scientific proof between electromagnetic radiation and the absence of sparrows,” Rahmani said.
National Audubon Society debunked the film
In 2020, when fresh rumours of 5G signals killing birds started, National Audubon Society, the oldest bird conservation organization based out of the US, debunking the claims. In the article, the author, Steve Rousseau, also touched upon how this film spread misinformation among the masses.
“Things got weirder and even more obfuscated when Indian sci-fi blockbuster 2.0, currently the highest-budgeted Tamil-language film ever made, hit cinemas just days later. Apart from being a parable about how technology is ruining our lives, 2.0 specifically depicts electromagnetic radiation from cell towers wiping out bird populations, validating (conspiracy theorist) Kuhles’ crackpot theory,” wrote Rousseau.
“Contrary to 2.0‘s plot, however, Longcore’s research attributed these bird deaths to the disorienting lights used on communication towers, not the electromagnetic radiation they emit,” he added.
Why is this misinformation such a big problem?
It is because what 2.0 does is engage in the straw man fallacy. Instead of exposing and fighting against the threats for birds, Pakshirajan fights a strawman in the form of mobile phone towers. In our country, where there is very little awareness of actual issues, not just among the public, but even among the policymakers, films like this do real damage.
The latest edition of State of India’s Birds, the comprehensive study of India’s bird species, talks about which require attention. Important bird habitats like forests, wetlands, grasslands and marshlands are indiscriminately destroyed. Grasslands, on which several species of birds depend for their survival, are being marked as “wastelands” and are given away for cheap to cronies for “development”. The introduction of exotic trees and plants for aesthetic value is destroying the biodiversity in urban areas. Pollution and climate change are wiping away bird habitats and consequently, bird populations.
