Union Minister of State for Human Resources Satya Pal has opened the eyes for the whole world. A former senior police (IPS) officer, he had the great fortune of being the commissioner of police of Bombay. He has recently managed to shoot into limelight with his trashing the scientific base of Charles Darwin’s theory of human evolution. Simply because neither Satya Pal nor his friends’ ancestors ever told them any stories that linked Darwin’s ape to man concept, the scientific proof, therefore, does not exist. This minister is neither a scientist nor a researcher. Yet, he has the audacity to use the word ‘scientific’ to dispel all the theories of Darwin.
In 1859, Darwin’s first book titled ‘On the Origin of Species’ was made available in printed form. This research-based publication created flutters in the Western religious and science fraternities. His other publication ‘The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex’ was a bigger challenge to the old mindset of those times. The theories propounded by Darwin in his publications were accepted by many but also rejected by others. The mythological Adam and Eve stories were obviously confronted and found false by sheer research and scientific quest. An important aspect of this story is that it was Eve, who tasted the Forbidden Fruit in spite of God’s forewarning, and brought suffering and misery down on humankind. Therefore, Christianity believed it was women who brought forth all evil. The theory of evolution changed all this nonsensical mumbo jumbo.
Darwin was not alone in his search for the evolutionary process. Many other scientists of that era were parallel in their efforts. The contribution of such research has helped mankind become more scientific and developed. This has led to the growth of a logical thinking process. That, in turn, has helped in demolishing the blind faith reposed on mythology and superstition. In present day context, it can safely be claimed that the Western world progressed much faster compared with countries such as India because of their desertion of superstition and growth of scientific intellect.
On the other hand, it can again be safely claimed that the bunch of people currently ruling India desire to pull our country back to the dark ages. This is not something new that our political masters are trying on us today. Throughout human history, it can be noticed that kings and rulers have consistently made efforts to keep the populace ignorant and superstitious. It was primarily this mind that made the rulers punish people like Galileo and so many others like him. Satya Pal’s efforts look mundane and worn out. Obviously not of a scientific bent of mind, his utterances may force people to question his intellectual abilities. Listening to this minister that since his forefathers did not hand down stories of an ape turning into a man may make many in our country wonder wherefrom did the Homo sapiens evolve. If not the ape, then what? Of course, we have the fantastic ‘Dasavatar’ which explains to a great degree how, thousands of years ago, people who lived in the subcontinent understood evolution. Mr Satya Pal may or may not be aware of this. For his ilk, it may be safe to recommend that Man did not evolve out of the Ape. Indians could have evolved from the Mother Cow.
