Questioning Science, history or even rational understanding of things has come to be the hallmark of the BJP led Centre. The Union Government has often been caught trying to propagate its own version of things. The latest example of such an attempt has been that of Union Minister, Satyapal Singh who has questioned the Theory of Evolution by Charles Darwin.
Singh, a former top cop turned politician has claimed that Darwin’s theory is scientifically wrong. He has gone on record to say that he believes that his ancestors were not apes. While he has been facing sharp criticism for this comment, his worldview is that condemning someone else’s point of view is not scientific temper.
Interestingly twice in few months Satyapal Singh has raised the subject in public domain. He not surprisingly has said that changes across textbooks and curriculum must follow in right earnest.
As a representative of a right leaning party Singh has said that 99 per cent of universities abroad misinterpret, mistranslate Hinduism. Singh plans to incorporate his thoughts on it in a book he is reportedly writing. He is also not averse to hosting an international conference to moot the point threadbare.
Singh in his own account has 10 – 15 scientists who will be ready to validate his point. He also adds Albert Einstein has agreed the theory was “unscientific”.
Singh, a postgraduate degree in chemistry from Delhi University claims to be speaking as a “man of science”.
But Singh’s wild claim has no takers in the scientific community at a broader level. Over 2000 Indian scientists have already signed a petition calling Singh’s remarks simplistic, misleading and lacking merit and scientific basis.
A statement from the scientific fraternity reads, “It is factually incorrect to state that the evolutionary principle has been rejected by the scientific community. 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.”
Scientifically speaking Darwin’s much talked about theory of Evolution was published nearly 160 years ago.
The theory notably argues all species, including humans, evolved over time through a process of natural selection. As per Darwin humans and apes share a common ancestor having existed 7m years ago. Experts widely believe this theory is often misunderstood to be suggesting modern apes turned into humans.
India is a land of scholars who gave the world the idea of zero, the progress of astronomy and mathematics. Religious nationalist figures are however often accused in recent years of pushing “ideological science”.
Darwin when he landed in Mauritius on April 30, 1836 he is said to have maintained records of the Indians present.
Walking through Port Louis, he observed different races. His observation was the most impressive were Indians.
These were the closest direct link Darwin had with India.
In India there were – East India Company bureaucrats , army officers, planters, private citizens – and Darwin used them. The Origin of Species and, even more, its sequel, The Descent of Man, is packed with information from India. Darwin exploited his far-flung network of correspondents during long years after the Beagle voyage and gathered a major chunk of his information to prove his theory.
Nearly a millennium before Darwin, Hindu mythology came up with a similar theory of human evolution. It was what became popular as the Dasavataram. The concept of 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu.
Life began with fish moving to the amphibian in the form of the tortoise; then came the boar, which could walk on its feet but could survive in water. Further evolution gave birth to modern man.
It is widely acknowledged evolution is not just about physical transformation from ape to man but it also includes mental transformation.
While Darwin believed traits could be preserved, geneticist, Gregor Mendel questioned this saying a trait might disappear in one generation and reappear in another.
The developments come at a time when India battles a rising tide of pseudoscience by some politicians.
Meanwhile Union HRD Minister, Prakash Javadekar has quashed the idea of a possible conference on the subject.
Interestingly the PM Narendra Modi has claimed myths from origin texts of Hinduism include evidence of plastic surgery and genetic science.
In a piece for The Wire, CP Rajendra argues – Charles Darwin has been a punching bag for religious fundamentalists around the world since he published On the Origin of Species in 1859, where he posited the theory of ‘common descent by natural selection’. The idea that life began billions of years ago, that its evolution is continuing around us even today and is likely to go on forever is among the greatest insights had by humankind. In one masterful stroke, it defined our past, present and future in the universe and removed the role of an essential ‘creator’ from the scheme of things.
33 years short of the discovery of continental drift, Darwin breathed his last in 1882. This discovery of the continental drift was able to explain dispersal of species to landmasses separated by thousands of kilometres of water. Theory of Continental Drift was the brainchild of Alfred Wegener in 1915.
As a progressive nation that wishes to steer ahead in Science and Technology, India will have to tread with caution and politics and science will have to be kept separate so that we break new ground in research and development without any hindrance.
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