Three entities, Gods, teachers and parents, were beyond questioning and ought to be accepted “uncritically,” according to Minister of Culture Mahesh Sharma.
He was addressing a Teacher’s Day function organised by the Union Environment Ministry, where he took additional charge on Monday as Minister of State.
“We must pledge today that we will not analyse three things… first, our gods, Ishwar, Allah, Guru Nanak and Jesus Christ. Second, our parents who birthed us and the third, our gurus, or our teachers,” he said addressing a crowd of mostly middle school students, teachers and Ministry officials. The reason they were beyond criticism, he argued, was because analysis requires dissecting entities into their constituent elements.
Displaying a pen Mr. Sharma, a physician, queried: “If I ask you what a pen is made of, you can take it to a lab, crush it and say steel, plastic etc…but can you imagine breaking your parents, Gods and teachers? They have to be accepted as they are.”
Online quiz
The students were attending Prakriti Khoj, an online quiz portal where primary and high school students could register, answer science-based questions about the environment and ecology and, win up to ₹10,000.
The quiz, now accessible in a limited format, will fully commence on September 25 and go on till December 25.
