Promote scientific temper, says Union minister who debunks Darwin's theory

A month after he debunked Darwin's theory of evolution, Union minister Satya Pal Singh on Wednesday called for inculcating scientific temper and curiosity among students.

Speaking at a National Science Day function in New Delhi, the Union minister of state for human resource development also said that Indian religion follows the natural laws.

"Whatever is taught in our schools, colleges and universities, should promote scientific temper and curiosity among the students," Singh said.

The IPS officer turned politician had claimed in Aurangabad last month that Charles Darwin's theory of evolution of man was "scientifically wrong" and it needed to be changed in school and college curriculum.

"Darwin's theory of evolution is wrong. It has already been rejected by scientists some 30-35 years back. It is wrong to say that humans evolved from monkeys and such references should be removed from the science and history school textbooks," Singh had said at the All India Vaidik Sammelan in Aurangabad in Maharashtra.

He said that, in Europe, there was a long struggle between science and religion, but it was not so in our country.

"According to the definition of our religion, knowing and following natural laws is Dharma," he said.

Emphasising on the need to develop a scientific temperament, he said that questioning others as well as oneself is the first step towards it.

"Science grows in opposite ideas and sometimes with wrong ideas," he said.

Claiming that suicides in cities like Delhi and Mumbai are six times more than the murders registered there, Singh stressed on spiritual science and science of intellect.

"Will this growing science teach us values? It will not happen unless we talk about spiritual science. Spiritual science should be there, we should also teach science of intellect," he said addressing the gathering of students from the Delhi Univesrsity, the Jawaharlal Nehru Univesity and IIT attending the function.

The minister lauded scientists for making possible revolutions in the field of milk, meat and fish production in the country.

He also said that every child in the country should be trained in basic science.

On the sidelines of the function, the minister refused to comment when asked about a media report that he had claimed that 'mantras' codified the 'laws of motion' before its discovery by Isaac Newton.

Singh was invited as the chief guest at the National Science Day function organised in New Delhi by Indian National Science Academy, Delhi, and Indian Academy of Sciences, Bengaluru.

The inaugural session was followed by sessions on topics -- 'Why evolution is central to both biology and our lives' and "Science and mathematics in Ancient India."

National Science Day is celebrated across India on February 28.

Indian scientist Sir C V Raman had discovered the Raman Effect on this day in 1928.

For this discovery, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930.