UP education minister says ‘Johnny Johnny Yes Papa’ and 'Rain rain go away' encourage children to lie, asks 'what are we teaching them?'

Uttar Pradesh Minister for Higher Education and Science and Technology Yogendra Upadhyay has courted a controversy over his statement that two popular nursery rhymes ‘Johnny Johnny Yes Papa’ and ‘Rain Rain Go Away’, are against Indian culture and values. Upadhyay claimed that these rhymes teach children to lie and promote selfishness.

“What does this rhyme teach (us) — Johnny Johnny Yes Papa, Eating Sugar No Papa, Telling Lies No Papa, Open Your Mouth Ha Ha Ha. These lines teach children to tell lies. No one ever thought about how this rhyme imparts wrong lessons to young children," the minister said while addressing students and teachers of a prominent private school in Lucknow.

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Criticising the popular rhyme "Johny Johny Yes Papa'', the minister said parents proudly ask children to recite it without realising the message it conveys. "With great enthusiasm, parents ask their children to recite before guests - 'Johny Johny yes papa, eating sugar? No Papa.' This poem teaches children to lie. 'Telling lies? No Papa.' Then comes 'Open your mouth, ha ha ha.' It makes a mockery of things. What are we teaching children?'' he asked.

Upadhyay did not stop here. He also objected to the rhyme ''Rain Rain Go Away", saying it promotes individual pleasure over collective welfare. '''Rain rain go away, come again another day, Little Johny wants to play.' This means that because little Johny wants to play, the rain should go away. What kind of values are these? This is not 'Swantah Sukhay' (self pleasure)... it is not our culture, which is about 'Sarvajan Hitaya, Sarvajan Sukhaya'," he said.



Earlier too, he made similar comments when he was speaking about the rhymes at an event in Agra earlier this week while addressing a gathering of Shiksha Mitras (ad hoc teachers in government primary schools).

Poems sow seeds of dishonesty

The UP minister alleged that ‘Johnny Johnny Yes Papa’ and ‘Rain Rain Go Away’ – sow seeds of dishonesty in the minds of children and are against Indian values and culture. The minister added, “Our culture is ‘Sarvajan Hitay, Sarvajan Sukhay’ (for the welfare of all, for the happiness of all). But this rhyme ‘Rain Rain Go Away, Come Again Another Day, Little Johnny Wants To Play, Rain Rain Go Away‘ teaches children ‘Swantah Sukhay (self happiness)’. This is not our culture.”

“Education teaches us culture. I spoke about these rhymes recently at an event in Agra… What we are teaching through these rhymes to children of a tender age… I do not have any objection to the language… but we should see that we do not teach anything, even by accident, that cultivates the wrong culture among children. I said the same thing at a school in Lucknow as well today. I will keep speaking about it…”

The BJP leader said the Indian culture emphasises collective good and harmony with nature rather than personal convenience. Upadhyay won the UP Assembly elections in 2012, 2017 and 2022 and is currently an MLA from the Agra South seat.

The Samajwadi Party attacked the minister over his statement, saying that the BJP did nothing in the past nine years and is raking up such issues only to divert attention of the people. Party spokesperson Sharvendra Bikram Singh said that such issues are raised only to hide the ''BJP's failure''. ''They (BJP) did nothing in the past nine years. As they have nothing to tell to the people, they raise such issues,'' he said.

(With PTI inputs)