Filmmaker and actor Farhan Akhtar put out a sarcastic tweet about Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species, indicating an indirect remark against Union Minister Satyapal Singh, who had claimed that Charles Darwin's theory of evolution of man was "scientifically wrong" and it needs to be changed in school and college curriculum.
In his tweet the 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag' actor said, "Breaking - Apes join protest against Darwin’s Origin of Species. They deny any involvement in the existence of certain homosapiens."
Satyapal Singh, the Minister of State for Human Resource Development on Saturday said our ancestors have nowhere mentioned that they saw an ape turning into a man.
"Darwin's theory (of evolution of humans) is scientifically wrong. It needs to change in school and college curriculum. Since the man is seen on Earth he has always been a man," he said while speaking to reporters yesterday here.
The IPS officer-turned-politician was in this central Maharashtra city to attend the 'All India Vaidik Sammelan.' "Nobody, including our ancestors, in written or oral, have said they saw an ape turning into a man," he said.
"No books we have read or the tales told to us by our grandparents had such a mention," the minister added.
Meanwhile, prominent scientists across the country have dismissed Union Minister Satyapal Singh's views on evolution as "illogical" and "untenable" and came out strongly in favour of the Darwinian model of the evolution against the "creationist" one he championed.
Raghavendra Gadagkar, professor at the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc), Bengaluru, told IANS that he wasn't sure whether refuting the claims on a factual basis will cut any ice with the minister since his statement appears to be politically aimed.
"I do not know how useful it is to refute the Minister's statement, on the basis of facts. It seems to be aimed at politically polarising science and scientists, and that is the real danger we must guard against. On the basis of facts, the statement is untenable at many levels.
"At the most elementary level, all evidence indicate that humans diverged from our closest living relative (the chimpanzee) about 5 million years ago. Therefore our ancestors did not have the privilege of witnessing the event and recording it in their scriptures," the former president of Indian National Science Academy said in an email reply.
Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution that states that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individual's ability to compete, survive, and reproduce.
It was developed by Darwin, a 19th century English naturalist, and others.
(With inputs from PTI and IANS)