In response Mike and Joel's well-thought-out comments, I'll simply
note that the petition in question
(http://caffeine.bu.edu/vigyan.html ) was originated by Indian
scientists working in the US (Shyamsunder Erramilli, Boston
University, Anupam Garg, Northwestern University, and Harsh Mathur,
Case Western Reserve University). As natives of India, they can
surely speak to any cultural matters with far more eloquence and
authority than I.