Lucknow, May 11 (PTI) Clarifying his recent remarks on rhymes like "Johny Johny Yes Papa", Uttar Pradesh Higher Education Minister Yogendra Upadhyay on Monday said he was only objecting to messages that unintentionally "encourage children to lie" or "disrespect elders" and not opposed to English.
The minister's clarification comes days after his remarks triggered a political controversy, with opposition parties accusing him of being anti-English and diverting attention from core issues.
Speaking to PTI Videos, Upadhyay said education without values could not become the basis of nation-building or the development of future generations.
"I had said that education without values is incomplete because it does not contribute to nation-building or shaping future generations," he said.
He said certain things taught to children unknowingly send the wrong message.
"In our culture, we teach children to speak the truth and respect elders. But in the rhyme 'Johny Johny Yes Papa', the child says 'No Papa' despite lying. Then again, when asked 'Telling lies?', the child says 'No Papa', meaning he is repeatedly lying with confidence," the minister said.
"That unknowingly influences a child's thinking. There is no opposition to English or English poems. The objection is only to the wrong message being conveyed to children through some poems," he added.
Upadhyay further said that the ending line of the rhyme "Open your mouth, ha ha ha" also went against Indian cultural values regarding respect for elders.
"When the child laughs in response, it does not reflect our culture of respecting elders. I only cited this as an example, but some people in the opposition projected it as if I was against English," he said.
The controversy erupted after the BJP leader, while addressing a function to felicitate 'Shiksha Mitras' in Kanpur earlier this week, criticised popular nursery rhymes such as "Johny Johny Yes Papa" and "Rain Rain Go Away", alleging that they promoted lying and selfishness.
Referring to another rhyme, he had said "Rain Rain Go Away" promoted individual pleasure over collective welfare by suggesting rain should stop merely because "little Johny wants to play".
He had then said Indian culture believes in "Sarvajan Hitaya, Sarvajan Sukhaya" (welfare and happiness of all) rather than personal convenience.
The remarks drew criticism from the opposition Samajwadi Party, which accused the BJP of raising such issues to divert public attention from governance failures.
However, Upadhyay on Monday said many people had understood the essence of his argument after listening to him carefully.
"Wherever I have raised this issue, people have understood what I meant. Many even said they had never looked at these rhymes so closely before," he said, adding that he hoped schools and parents would reflect on the issue.