Scientists in the city on Saturday protested against Union human resources development minister Satya Pal Sing’s remark questioning the scientific validity of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.
The scientists have decided to observe a week in February as the “ Darwin week” starting from Darwin’s birthday on 12 February.They will also hold sessions on the contribution of Darwin and his “Theory of Evolution” in schools and colleges across the state to ‘re-promote’the concepts of organic evolution published in the 19th century and which formed the basis of several theories and researches later developed.
The union minister had last week publicly questioned the scientific validity of Darwin’s theory of evolution and called for changes in educational curricula. The minister said Darwin’s theory was rejected by scientists some 30-40 years back. Nobody ,the minister had said, including our ancestors, had said they saw an ape turning into a man.
Over 5,000 scientists across the country have signed a petition urging the minister to withdraw his “ unscientific comment”.
Speaking at a press conference, scientists of Breakthrough Science Society said the minister’s “ unscientific comment” has given rise to confusion among the public regarding the validity of the theory. “Among the public, such comments from powerful people tend to create great confusion and unscientific temper. We are mounting a week -long drive to counter that and reach out to the people to disseminate Darwin’s theory,” scientist Soumitro Banerjee said.