Charles Darwin no longer appears in the compulsory curriculum for second-year students. His theory of evolution explaining the origins of human beings and asserting that all species, including man, evolved over time through a process of natural selection, that men and apes shared a common ancestor who lived more than 7 million years ago, is not worth studying by the majority of young Indians. Only students who will specialize in biology in the upper classes will have access to it.
So decided the National Council for Educational Research and Training, responsible for revising textbooks, to officially lighten the workload of students after the two years of class closure during the Covid-19 epidemic. This purge is added to dozens of others concerning history, the environment, society. The period of the Mughal Muslim emperors, the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, global warming, energy sources like fossil fuels and renewable energies, the sustainable management of natural resources…school textbooks have been purged of anything that does not not suitable for the Hindu nationalists who run the country.
According to the review Nature, the periodic table of chemical elements by Russian Dmitri Mendeleïev (1834-1907), which lists all of the 118 known atoms and helps the chemist to find his bearings, has also been discarded. The Indian magazine Frontline also noted the removal of common teachings from Michael Faraday’s contributions on understanding electromagnetism and even the Pythagorean theorem.
“Man has always been a man! »
Darwin was in the sights of Narendra Modi’s government for a few years. In 2018, Satyapal Singh, then minister for higher education, told parliament that Darwin’s theory of evolution was “scientifically flawed”. “Since man appeared on Earth, he has always been a man! No one, including our ancestors, whether in writing or orally, ever said they saw a monkey turn into a human! »had mocked the minister, before indicating that the school and university programs should be modified accordingly.
Under the fire of criticism, the minister had persevered, declaring that his ministry was ready to host an international conference during which “scientists could say what their position is on the matter”. “I have a list of about 10 to 15 great scientists in the world who have said there is no proof that the theory of evolution is correct”he had assured, adding that Albert Einstein had recognized that the theory was not ” scientist “.
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