News Desk |
India’s education minister Satyapal Singh is facing backlash from the scientific community after having said that Darwin’s theory of evolution is “scientifically wrong”. Consequently, the minister has put forth the demand to remove the theory from the school curriculum.
“Darwin’s theory is scientifically wrong,” he said last weekend. “It needs to change in the school and college curriculum”.
“Since man is seen on Earth, he has always been a man. Nobody, including our ancestors, in written or oral, said they ever saw an ape turning into a human being.”
“I propose [it] if the Ministry of Human Resource Development is ready to sponsor a world-level international conference to decide what is true and factual and that must be taught in schools and colleges.”
On Monday, Satyapal Singh again reaffirmed his stance and invited an international debate on the topic. He says his ministry is ready to host a conference where scientists can come out and speak where they stand on the issue.
“I have a list of around 10 to 15 great scientists of the world who have said there is no evidence to prove that the theory of evolution is correct,” Singh told a crowd at a university in Assam state, adding that Albert Einstein had agreed the theory was “unscientific”.
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More than 2000 scientists have signed a petition against Singh calling his remarks simplistic, misleading and lacking in any scientific base.
“It is factually incorrect to state that the evolutionary principle has been rejected by the scientific community,” the statement said. “On the contrary, every new discovery adds support to Darwin’s insights. There is plentiful and undeniable scientific evidence to the fact that humans and the other great apes and monkeys had a common ancestor.”
Satyapal Singh again reaffirmed his stance and invited an international debate on the topic. He says his ministry is ready to host a conference where scientists can come out and speak where they stand on the issue.
However, Prakash Javadekar, a senior from the cabinet has admonished Singh for making such contentious statements. He says his ministry does not plan to fund any debate that proves Darwin’s theory wrong.
“We are not going to fund any event or don’t have any plan for a national seminar to prove Darwin wrong. It is the domain of scientists and we should let them free to continue their efforts for the progress of the country.”
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When asked if the government will pursue his demands he said there is a need to uncover the truth first.
“I propose [it] if the Ministry of Human Resource Development is ready to sponsor a world-level international conference to decide what is true and factual and that must be taught in schools and colleges.”