Nirmukta » General News

Introducing The Bihar Rationalist Forum

Narendra Nayak — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 07:45:34 +0000

Bihar is one of the largest and most populous states in India. It also happens to be the most backward. However, the state has had a relatively glorious past. Bihar is well known for its intellectual achievements right from the time of Buddha. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi started his freedom struggle from Motihari in this state. One of the most well known movements of the post independent India against the authoritarianism of Indira Gandhi was started by Jayaprakash Narayan who was a Bihari.

In spite of such a progressive history, Bihar has become a state riddled with superstitions and obscurantism. For the past five years we have been associated with running a campaign in Bihar to inculcate scientific temper among people. It all started when a Minister of State for Science and Technology of the Government of India and the Member of Parliament from Navada, Sanjay Paswan, honoured tantriks at a public ceremony.

His claim was that these people have extraordinary powers and they can do things like walking on embers, catching snakes with bare hands etc., and hence needed to be honored for those achievements. The director of the Patna planetarium had invited Premanand to his institution to conduct a training program to debunk these claims.

During this program Premanand met Prof. S.P.Verma of Science for Society, Bihar, who invited him to conduct this program for his organisation. This was for the Year of Science Awareness program. Next June, Premanand wanted me to go along with him for the training program in which people from each of the districts of Bihar had participated.

Prof. Verma wanted to follow that up with a tour of Bihar to visit each of the districts and conduct programs there. But at that time, Premanand was not well and he wanted me to go on tour by myself, which was the beginning of the relationship with this organisation. They have a presence in each of the districts of this state, and a well knit network of workers, sympathisers and good organisers.

They are also members of the NCSTC Network and conduct the Children’s Science Congress each year at the state and district levels. This organisation, the Network for Science and Technology Communication, a section of the Department of Science and Technology under the Ministry of Human Resource Development has been a major catalyst for the development of our movement in the country. They have sponsored a number of miracle exposure training workshops which have been conducted by Premanand and now by me during which we have had the opportunity of meeting and training hundreds of activists many of who have later on joined the movement.

Though the Year of Scientific Awareness was over, the relationship continued and the movement grew. We had a number of programs going on with funding from various sources and sometimes even from personal funds. That led to the identification of a number of activists, organisers and those interested in the movement. We all felt the need for an organisation which can and should take up issues related to scientific temper without fear or favour.

The existing organisational set up had a few problems with projecting vehement stands on many issues, as it conducts a variety of activities of various types involving a large number of people. Taking radical stands on issues would alienate some of them and result in affecting these activities. The proposal to start such an organization was a discussion point between us for quite some time. This April we had a round of training programs covering almost all the districts of Bihar, and we have identified some of the activists who could be involved in building up this movement. In order to bring them together we decided to hold a meeting on the 20^th of June, 2010.

The meeting:

The meeting was held at the department of Chemistry at the Patna University. There were about 35 members from about 12 districts. Although the distribution was not uniform, the fact that this number attended was quite encouraging. The meeting was initiated by a discussion on the need for such an association and the ways to go about it. There was good participation from the members present who presented their view points and ideas. In the morning session it was decided that the formation of such an organisation was necessary.

The post-lunch session started with the discussions about the type of organisation to be started. It was decided to defer this decision of the type of legal entity to be formed until a larger and more representative body could be formed. So, it was decided to form an ad hoc committee and it was named Bihar Rationalist Forum. This organisation would work to strengthen the rationalist movement in Bihar by its various activities.

The following were the resolutions discussed and passed:

1. To affiliate the organisation to FIRA.

2. To constitute committees for the following:

a. A panel of those who would demonstrate so called miracles and explain superstitions.

b. A panel of experts who would investigate and explain paranormal phenomena.

c. An academic panel of experts in various fields who could answer queries of the members about the paranormal.

3. We also decided to conduct seminars, workshops, and discussions to expand the horizons of knowledge of the members and also those interested.

4. To bring more interested, committed and dedicated people into the movement and also to create a state wide network with members in all the districts.

A managing committee was elected from among the members present. The ad hoc office bearers were also elected. The following is the list:

Ms. Seema Singh- President.

Mr. B.Suman- General Secretary

Mr. Umesh and Mr. Munindra Jha Raushan - Secretaries.

Ms. Kirti- Vice President.

Ms.Poonam- Treasurer

Prof.S.P.Verma was requested to be the mentor and he readily agreed. The President of FIRA was invited to be the patron and that too was agreed upon.

The number of young people, women and activists gives us the hope that the movement will go forward in the right direction and address the target membership.

It was also decided that the next meeting of the ad hoc committee would be held at Hajipur in September and hosted by the president Ms. Seema Singh. The members present also contributed to the funds of this forum and the president also handed over the contribution on behalf of FIRA.

Professor Narendra Nayak is the President of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations (FIRA). He regularly tours the country, giving demonstrations and holding workshops to develop scientific temper.

‘Freedom Of Speech’ in India- Case Studies: Islamist Zakir Naik, Maoist Rebels, Film Actress Kushboo, Artist M.F. Hussain

Ajita Kamal — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 20:38:15 +0000

A series of high-profile incidents over the past few months have stirred up conversation among Indians online on the subject of freedom of speech. Not surprisingly, parallels between the cases have been drawn at will to make ever possible argument for and against every side of the debate. This article is an attempt to look at the subject of free speech from a democratic and humanistic point of view.

I begin by outlining the essentials of four cases from the recent past. This will be followed by a short discussion on the notion of freedom of speech. Finally the implications of this discussion will be applied to each case.

PRESENTING THE CASE STUDIES

1. Zakir Naik Banned from UK and Canada

The man in question is a self-styled medical doctor turned Islamic preacher who delivers lectures, holds debates and answers questions in front of large audiences worldwide, all in the effort to spread the ideology of Islam. Naik is known for his hate-filled propaganda, delivered with a self-pretentious smugness designed to carry all the appeal of a tough inner-city kid wrangling his pants around his knees as he delivers one cheeky ad hominem after another on the MTV show “Yo’ Mama”. Its nothing short of cheap, logically incoherent, crowd pleasing rhetoric- going for the PWND factor. This image is the vehicle that he uses to promote a deceptively sugar-coated extremist ideology. He works with an Islamic television channel and also frequently travels India and abroad, spreading his version of fundamentalist Islam.

Naik has been in the news recently after being disallowed entry into the UK and Canada. Both governments within days of each other rejected his application to enter their respective countries on his speaking tour of the world. Naik is appealing against both the bans.

2. Verbal Support of Maoist Rebels Banned

The ongoing Maoist insurgency against the government of India and the people who abide by its constitution is comprised of members belonging to various indigenous tribes in the forests of Central and North Eastern India. The Communist Party of India, Maoist, (not to be confused with the CPI Marxist) has been designated a terrorist organization by the government. The Maoists have been responsible for much destruction of life and property in recent years, as they fight the government supported incursion of mining companies into their lands.

Early in May of 2010, the Indian government released a statement warning that those who speak in support of Maoist terrorists could be prosecuted, under Section 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

3. Supreme Court Clears Film Actress Kushboo

In 2005, Indian film actress Kushboo was charged on 22 counts of obscenity because she said in an interview that it is acceptable for women to have premarital sex, “provided safety measures are followed to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases”. There were mass protests in Tamil Nadu where Kushboo was worshiped by some as a goddess. Needless to say, the temples built in her honor were destroyed after this incident. In April of this year, the Supreme court dismissed all 22 charges brought against her.

4. Artist M F Hussain Gains Citizenship in Qatar

India’s most celebrated artist in modern times, Muqbool Fida Hussain, took up Qatari citizenship in February of this year. Hussain was awarded the Padma Shri 1955, the Padma Bhushan in 1973, the Padma Vibhushan in 1989 and was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1986. He gained notoriety in 1996 when pieces that he had painted in the 70s were reprinted in a Hindi magazine. Initially 8 cases were filed against him which eventually escalated to a large number of cases (about 900 or so) spread throughout the country. More details here.

In 2006, the death threats and acts of vandalism increased, forcing Hussain to spend an increasing amount of time abroad. His decision to take up Qatar’s offer of citizenship requires him to give up his Indian citizenship.

ON FREE-SPEECH

What does it mean to be Free to Speak?

Popular conceptions of political ideals vary depending on the cultural mindset of the population in question. In secular democracies the freedom to speak as and when one wishes is tempered with a sort of commonsense that many find comforting. You would be hard pressed to find anyone who didn’t agree that some forms of expression should not be permitted. The problem then is that in practice very few of us can agree on where to draw the line. It is because of this that we must pay attention to the semantics involved in formulating such principles.

Common wisdom on the notion of freedom of speech is that we are free to say anything we want as long as our speech does not impinge upon the ‘fundamental freedoms’ of others. The idea is that one’s freedom of speech must not cause ‘harm’ to others. This sort of reasoning leaves much unresolved, because in reality the problem of deciding what counts as ‘fundamental freedoms’ or ‘harm’ is not so simple. In fact, the reasoning often seen in the media and as popular opinion is simply designed to ignore the question or pretend that it has been answered. The problems begin just shy of where commonsense ends.

The law, when it is shaped by such general commonsense notions, remains ambiguous. Such ambiguity is often necessary, given that moral problems are almost always situational. However, there are practical limits to such ambiguity. These limits are to be determined by objective facts and logic.

Limiting Ambiguity Using Logic and Reason

In order to present a clear understanding of the problem, we must focus on understanding the semantic and political philosophy behind the idea of free-speech.

“…there ought to exist the fullest liberty of professing and discussing, as a matter of ethical conviction, any doctrine, however immoral it may be considered.“

John Stuart Mill

This excerpt is from Mill’s seminal work ‘On Justice” which has been instrumental in shaping modern conceptions of the rights of the individual in a democratic state. Let’s see in detail what Mill was talking about.

The freedom to criticize/express all ideas is a stranger to every dictatorship on the planet. The one thing we know for sure about freedom of speech is that the more it is practiced in a country, the less oppressed the people. This includes the freedom to criticize everything, including the state itself. It also includes the right to support any idea, however repugnant that idea might be to you or I. So, it is clear that such freedoms are a good thing. But how do we reconcile this right to support any idea with the ambiguous notion that freedom of speech must not impinge on the fundamental freedoms of others?

According to Mill, there are two major clauses to free speech. The Harm Principle and The Offense Principle. The first is valid (examples of use include hate speech, incitement of violence and making death threats) and the second is not (examples of use include blasphemy, criticizing an ideology, supporting an ideology/religion). This is the foundation of logic and reason over which we can build an appropriately malleable legal structure. Without such a logical framework, the ambiguity is a tool of oppression. The rest of this section is concerned with understanding the democratic interpretation of the harm principle.

Understanding the Harm Principle

The only valid restrictions on freedom of speech are those that are clearly meant to prevent harm. However, governments must go about doing this without stripping us off our freedom to offend. We must find a balance between the two. But how do we determine where this line lies? The only way to practice such a balance is to restrict the law to criminalize only those aspects of speech that clearly are intended to cause harm. Consider a case of hate speech, incitement of violence or making of death threats. A clear and intended causal effect must be drawn between the act of expression and the harm done. This is the only legitimate way in which the Harm Principle can be evoked to restrict certain forms of speech.

In order for an act of speech to violate the harm principle, it must call for and/or intend harm against individuals, and/or target specific locations or events. That is, one must express intent towards furthering specific harmful acts for the harm principle to be violated. On the contrary, if an act of speech expresses support for the notion of harm, or argues that harm is the only way for something to get done, it cannot be construed of as violating freedom of speech. This is the nuance that is often missed. One instance involves verbally endorsing an act of physical aggression (with the intention of furthering said act). The other is about simply supporting an ideology (without calling for harmful action). Of course, the ideology can have unintended harmful consequences, but that is immaterial. It can be argued that every influential ideology has harmful consequences, including yours and mine. This distinction between action and ideology makes a world of difference in real situations- the type of situations that such laws are meant to help navigate. The reason why we need this clear distinction is to avoid ambiguity in practice. This distinction prevents abuse by governments that want to get rid of certain popular ideas, under the pretext that they are “terrorist” ideas.

Note: In this case, ‘harm’ must also be defined in logical and reasonable terms. I will forgo that discussion here.

How Intent Separates Ideology from Action

There is possible overlap between support for ideology and support for action, which is why the distinction between discussion of ideas and the intent to harm is important. For example, it is perfectly OK for us to discuss the merits (or demerits) of destroying Israel or Palestine (just as an example). But if we demonstrate an intent to destroy Israel or Palestine by supporting specific actions, that should not be protected under free speech.

In order to clearly understand the role of intent, the colloquial interpretation of ideology must be properly qualified. Intention is the key dividing factor here. Accordingly, we must separate pure ideologies which have do not include intentions, from action-based ideologies which do. For the sake of convenience, we classify the former as ideology and the latter as action. Intention to cause harm is the difference between the two. Ideologies are very complex sets of beliefs, and no ideology is a self-contained entity. The only way we have of preserving freedoms and removing ambiguity is to clearly distinguish ideologies from acts that are intended to harm. This is the form of the word ideology that we must use to preserve democratic freedoms. This is very important, because politics, like everything else, needs careful analysis of the semantics used.

Free Speech and Free Society

In general, countries with citizenry that are relatively more free have a better understanding of the distinction between support of terrorist ideology and conspiring to commit acts of terror. In India as with much of the world, we are unfortunately unable to find such nuance in our political dialogue. The justification for allowing any ideology to be freely proclaimed and discussed is a whole different subject. I will not venture to tackle it here, but suffice to say that such freedom is one of the most highly valued commodities in the “free world”. In fact, it is the reason why the “free world” is so relatively “free”. The instant we begin adding restrictions to the free discussion of ideas we are in authoritarian territory.

Countries of the World Ranked According to Press Freedoms- 2008, Reporters Without Borders

However, when speech does indeed demonstrate intent to cause harm, democratic governments have a duty to prosecute the speaker. The failure of this clamp-down on certain kinds of speech is also a failure of democracy.

Note: In a democracy, you are free to choose any platform that is willing to express your views, but you may not demand that a private entity provide you with a platform to air them.

REEVALUATING THE CASE STUDIES

1. Zakir Naik:

Why is Naik considered controversial in the UK and Canada and not in India? India has faced more Islamic terrorism than either of the other two countries, and yet Naik has not been the target of the Indian government.

A closer look at some of the most vile of Naik’s statements offers some clues. The one statement of Naik’s that has been quoted the most in the aftermath of the recent incidents is this: “If he (Osama) is terrorizing the terrorists, if he is terrorizing America the terrorist, the biggest terrorist, every Muslim should be a terrorist.’

Terrorism is an ideology, and a repulsive one at that to any civilized human being. But, as we have seen in the discussion above, specific terrorist acts must be described and endorsed before one can be accused of violating the harm clause. So, in my opinion, the above sentence, if taken by itself, is not grounds for prosecution. However, there are other statements made by Naik that, together with the above statement, conspire to discredit the notion that Naik is not endorsing violent acts. Specifically, Naik has made it clear multiple times that the ideology- the specific form of Islam- that he supports, requires homosexuals and apostates be put to death. Can you imagine him saying such a thing about Hindus? If Zakir Naik came out and said that the belief system that he is promoting on TV and using loudspeakers requires all Hindus to be put to death, he would be behind bars quicker than you can say “inshallah”! It is, however, socially (and apparently, legally as well) acceptable in India to say such things about homosexuals and kafirs.

By endorsing specific harmful acts against innocent civilians, through the process of spreading a particular extremist ideology that, by Naik’s own admission, absolutely requires those acts, Zakir Naik has violated the harm principle. He should have been prosecuted for hate speech and incitement of violence by the Indian government, long before Canada and the UK made clear the hateful deception that he represents. Naik’s fault is not the fact that he has defended and even promoted the idea of terrorism, but that he has clearly and explicitly endorsed specific acts of terror.

2. Maoist Rebels:

Under the conditions set by the democratic interpretation of free speech, the newly passed amendment to Section 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967 is a violation of our right to freedom of speech. There are two clear arguments to be made against the law..

a. The law is deliberately ambiguous.

This is the relevant portion of the statement, taken from the article:

“Any person who commits the offense of supporting such a terrorist organization (like Communist Party of India (CPI)-Maoist) with inter alia intention to further the activities of such terrorist organizations would be liable to be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or with fine or with both,” a home ministry statement said.”

The article goes on to say:

“It said such action would be taken under Section 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.”

Free speech can be preserved while respecting the harm clause. This requires a clear distinction in the law between legitimate discussion of ideas and expression of intent to harm. This is clearly missing in the law. A law restricting free speech becomes a tool to be used for suppression of ideas when it is so purposefully unclear. The harm clause could easily be stated very clearly and simply. Why could the lawmakers have not been more clear? One simple change in the language of the law would make it perfectly acceptable. If the law said “… the intention to further the terrorist activities of such organisations”, we would not be having this conversation. This is a simple switch from “furthering the activities of terrorist organizations” to “furthering the terrorist activities of these organizations”, but the effect is dramatic and extremely significant. This switch would remove the ambiguity inherent in the current law, but make the law ineffective as far as stifling of dissenting ideologies is concerned. My argument is that that the ambiguity is deliberately designed and put in place to suppress public expression and discussion of this ideology, through government intimidation.

b. The law is redundant

The new law is redundant regarding its stated purpose of targeting Maoist terrorism. It is not required for the government to do what it should be doing to stop terrorist acts. Whatever the contents of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act prior to the addendum, it was fully sufficient to address Maoist terrorism. The recent change only pushes through one addition that makes any difference- the targeting of the Maoist ideology. This is why the new law is redundant as far as the purpose of targeting terrorism is concerned. It does not bring anything new to targeting the terrorist activities. The sole purpose of this law is to target the ideology.

Both these arguments (a and b) conspire to discredit the proposed intent and to lay unwarranted power in the hands of the government.

Some Additional Points

The tyrannical suppression of the freedom to believe and to propagate particular ideologies is commonplace in dictatorships and rare in true democracies. India does have a lot of freedoms compared to dictatorships and tyrannical regimes, but this is a hard fought and hard earned set of freedoms. In India, we can fight against tyranny confident that someday the truth will prevail, despite the forces that tend to accumulate power. The process of dialogue is key to our democracy, like it is to all democracies. The problem is that when laws are made to target ideologies rather than actions, this freedom to discuss and debate ideas is compromised. It was undemocratic when Stalin banned expression of religion and it is undemocratic if India bans expression of Maoist ideology (this is not the case with the law, but it comes awfully close, using intimidation to suppress ideas).

No ideology is self-contained, including Maoist ideology. Contained within the Maoist ideology is a deeper political ideology with ideological roots in many other systems of thought that must not be censored. It must be debated and discussed in the free-market of ideas. Simply dismissing all Maoist ideology as terrorist is exactly the kind of thing that the distinction between supporting actions (intended to cause harm), and supporting ideology (with no intention of causing harm) is meant to prevent. This sort of attack on an ideology by the government constitutes blatant censorship of ideas, under the pretext of protecting the people. This is exactly the kind of authoritarian government intrusion into public life that democracy is supposed to guard us from.

Under the current law, a professor of political science can easily be arrested for saying that the Maoists have a point. Maybe it won’t stick in court, but in any case this law does not necessarily have to be used to arrest individuals based on their ideological support, in order for it to have its intended effect. It is more about intimidation and control of mainstream culture. An objective observer must look at the language of the law and see how easily this law can be used to shut down political and social dissent.

Finally, I would like to expose a key assumption in the arguments supporting the law- the assumption that censoring Maoist ideology will somehow reduce Maoist terrorism. Where is the evidence for this? I think a very good case can be made that it will have the opposite effect by, for example, driving the Maoist elements underground and away from open and free discussion with democratically-minded and peaceful people. There may be better counter arguments, and there even may be studies on this subject. In any case, this particular point is irrelevant to the case against the law, because the two arguments presented above are sufficient to demonstrate that this law is draconian.

3. Kushboo

The events leading up to the cases against Kushboo, and the eventual dismissal of all the cases by the supreme court, do not deserve to be on this list. But I have included this issue here to make a specific point about free-speech. Adults are free to have consensual sex with other adults. At a much more benign level, adults are free to say so. The cases against Kushboo are an example of a primitive and dangerous slant in the public mindset towards restricting democratic freedoms in India. The only thing scandalous about the conclusion of the events here is that the government didn’t punish those who filed cases against Kushboo for saying there is nothing wrong with premarital sex. The cases were clear examples of frivolous lawsuits and constitute a waste of the court’s time (and are serving to intimidate free citizens). The supreme court should have imposed stiff fines on those who filed the court cases against Kushboo. However, ultimately the blame here lies with the public.

4. M.F. Hussain

As with the case of Kushboo, the issue of Hussain’s paintings and their widespread condemnation by communal elements is more a failure of society than a failure of government. The government’s inadequate response deserves its share of the blame for Hussain having to eventually accept Qatari citizenship, but it was Indian society, polluted by an ideology that demands automaton-like in-group behavior, that was the ultimate force that drove Hussain away.

The standard arguments that I have come to expect from those who support Hussain’s move to Qatar (instead of criticizing those violent factions that threaten his life) have to do with the moral imperatives concerned. “Why does he paint nude Hindu goddesses?” “Why not the Muslim prophet Muhammad?” “Hussain is mocking Hinduism” “Hussain’s ideas are offensive to Hindus” “Hussain is a provocateur”. One is, of course, free to make these arguments, and one may even be right. However, one may not in a democracy expect that these arguments are sufficient cause to take legal action against Hussain.

Those who make these arguments are missing the point about free-speech. Hussain’s motives are irrelevant as long as he is not promoting violent acts against people. The problem is that where religion is concerned, people lose the ability to see that criticism of all ideas is a human right. Moreover, many of those who criticize Hussain’s actions (which are protected under free-speech law) have made death threats and even sabotaged Hussain’s shows and art works. These are acts that are absolutely not protected by the law. Yet the outrage from the Indian community and media has focused on the paintings and the “expert opinion” on whether they constitute “offensive material”, and not on the truly undemocratic abuse of speech by those who have threatened harm against Hussain.

CONCLUSION

To re-iterate, we must draw a clear distinction between discussion of ideas and endorsement of acts that are intended to harm. It is understanding this distinction that can liberate India from the popular undemocratic mindset that is constricting her, preventing the resolution of a vast many social and political issues that need be addressed using reason.

1000 Indian Freethinkers Event: A Conversation With Tom Clark On Worldview Naturalism

Editor — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 09:00:39 +0000

Nirmukta has recently crossed the 1000 member mark on facebook, and our team has decided that its time to celebrate by hosting an online event! This event will be held on Saturday, the third of July, at 7:00 PM, IST. All you will need to participate in the event is to go to http://tinychat.com/nirmukta at the scheduled time and sign in using twitter or facebook connect.

Tom Clark, director of the Center for Naturalism, will speak to us live on the influence of worldview naturalism. He is the the author of Encountering Naturalism: A Worldview and its Uses, and has written various papers and articles on the influence of the naturalistic worldview on our lives. You can read more about Tom’s work at http://naturalism.org and on his blog at http://centerfornaturalism.blogspot.com/.

Go here for a Naturalism FAQ. Here is an excerpt:

Q. What is naturalism, anyway? And keep it straightforward!

A. Ok, naturalism is simply the understanding that there exists a single, natural, physical world or universe in which we are completely included. There are not two different worlds, the supernatural and natural. Since we are completely included in the natural world, there’s nothing supernatural about us. For instance, we don’t have immaterial souls that survive after death. We are fully physical, material creatures, and everything we are and do can be understood without supposing that we have souls, spirits, or any other sort of immaterial supernatural stuff inside us. Your thoughts, experiences, feelings, decisions, and behavior are all things your brain and body does. How they do all this is of course a very complicated story that’s still being discovered by science, but naturalism says there’s nothing non-physical involved. That the material world has produced creatures that are conscious, can reason, feel emotions, and ask questions is a pretty amazing fact. The “merely” physical isn’t so mere after all. Naturalism re-enchants the physical world.

During our conversation with Tom Clark we will explore some of the major implications of worldview naturalism on concepts such as god, religion, morality, justice, free-will, retribution, consciousness, etc. Since this will be a live streaming event, questions can be sent to us in real time through twitter and chat. Relevant questions from listeners will be selected and posed to Tom Clark throughout the entire duration of the event.

Date: Saturday, July 3rd, 2010, 7:00 PM, IST.

Venue: http://tinychat.com/nirmukta

Our twitter account: (for sending us your questions) http://twiter.com/nirmukta

RSVP on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=120028841375938&index=1

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Join the Indian freethought community in the chat room on Saturday and lets celebrate science and reason!

Why Religion Endures

Charlie Sitzes — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 23:15:58 +0000

This article was first posted here.

The May/June edition of the Skeptical Inquirer had on its cover an artist’s rendition of the human brain embedded with an image resembling either God or Jesus (take your pick) along with the caption “Why Our Brains Believe”. The feature article “Brain Science, God Science; Why Religion Endures” was written by two really bright guys , Michael McGuire and Lionel Tiger.

Dr. McGuire was formerly a professor of psychiatry and biobehavorial sciences at UCLA and author of ten books including Darwinian Psychiatry. Currently he is president of the Biomedical Research Foundation and a director of the Bradshaw Foundation.

Lionel Tiger is the Charles Darwin Professor of Anthropology at Rutgers University. He is a best selling author and has written articles for magazines as diverse as Rolling Stone and the WSJ.

In the article they ask what if it could be scientifically shown and to universal satisfaction that there is no god, no afterlife, no heaven, no hell, no Adam and Eve, no anything but nothing after death? What then? In the face of irrefutable evidence (which by the way has been available for years) would believers live with the facts and graciously accept that what we experience here on earth is all there is? “We doubt it“‘ they say. “In fact, we strongly assert that religion and belief in a god would thrive irrespective of the presence of solid evidence refuting them.”

They go on:

“Why? The answer is simple: a god or some equivalent is a product of the normal human brain. It is almost a neurological secretion. And there is no reason to expect that the brain is going to change in any significant way in the foreseeable future.”

Very well. But for me that is where their logic jumps the track.

First, if their claim that a god or some equivalent is a product of the normal human brain, then an equal claim could be made that some 20% or 61 million brains in the U.S. (including mine) are in some way abnormal. Furthermore, in Denmark some 80% of their population of 5,155,575 or 4,124,460 hapless victims would find themselves shackled with abnormal brains, while Sweden with a population of 9,074,055 would suffer a similar fate with 7,259,244 of their brains downgraded to the abnormal category.

Parenthetically, it should be noted that even with the burden of all those abnormal brains, Denmark and Sweden scored amongst the highest in the Economist’s Quality of Life Index as to the “best” places to live in the world. The index takes into account factors such as income, health, freedom, unemployment, family life, climate, political stability, life satisfaction and gender equality. In fact, it turns out that the top twenty nations with the best quality of life whose citizens by a wide margin, are non-religious, possess a far greater percentage of abnormal brains.

The article’s authors defend their argument by claiming “The human brain has evolved to act, not to think.” If true, one has to wonder how we came by the telephone, radio, TV, internet, heavier than air flying machines, smart phones, heart surgery, organ replacement, the Hubble Space Telescope and thousands of other inventions and medical procedures in the last two hundred years. This is equivalent to just one tenth of one percent of the time since we evolved to our present brain size some 200,000 years ago. Indeed, since most of those discoveries were made in just the last 50 years, it seems to me there is some hope we have attained cut-off velocity in our race to escape the gravity of ignorance.

When the authors ask why a god or some equivalent is a product of the human brain, I think the “simple answer” they provide; that “it is almost a neurological secretion“, has an even simpler answer . In my view, the Occam’s razor answer is that all the religious nonsense held by “believers” was introduced into their brains as youngsters by their parents before they developed the proper critical thinking skills. The human brain does not become fully developed until the early 20’s. Once an idea is implanted in an immature brain, it becomes nigh impossible to dislodge when the brain is fully developed. (See my blog on hoop snakes) Meanwhile they will in turn pass on their lack of critical thinking skills to their children. How else can we explain that Alabama is populated by Baptists while Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Iran are populated by Muslims and India is populated by Hindus? As Richard Dawkins has pointed out, “Anyone raised a Baptist in Alabama, knowing full well that if they were raised in Saudi Arabia they would have been a Muslim, knows what it is like to be the victim of childhood indoctrination. Memes are not transmitted by ” almost”neurological secretions. They are transmitted by words.

Although the idea is so unethical, I am loathe to even mention it, there is a simple way to test my argument. Just switch the newborn babies of three mothers; a devout Muslim, a devout Baptist and an atheist without the mother’s knowledge. In a mere 20 years we would have our answer.

Finally, in the quest to find answers, it might be helpful if scientists studied the abnormal brains of individuals like myself. Just maybe they would stumble on the answer as to why Denmark and Sweden rank at the top of educated, peaceful and happy nations while the most religious nations (including ours) rank at the bottom. Perhaps their abnormal brains are also responsible for countries like Denmark and Sweden being the most generous in aid to other countries.

The Cell Phone Cancer Debate: Fact-Checking The Tehelka Radiation Survey- Part 1.

Editor — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 02:54:41 +0000

This is the first part in a series of articles to check the facts and the analyze evidence concerning the recent Tehelka report concluding that radiation levels in Delhi are far above recommended safe levels.

On June 8, 2010, Tehelka reported on a survey they had done of the city of Delhi. The media outlet teamed up with Cogent EMR, a company that, as fellow Nirmukta member Sajith Unni has pointed out, manufactures a number of products that are extremely dubious. Tehelka’s report ended up being one of the most fear-instilling pieces of journalism on the subject. The reporter, Rishi Mazumdar, essentially concluded that Delhi is a radiation hot-zone with levels far exceeding the acceptable limits suggested by the scientists.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Many of the claims of the Tehelka report do not stand up to scrutiny. The issue was first highlighted by Sajith and it was taken up by another member, Vaibhav Prakash. Sajith and Vaibhav directly contacted the reporter and participated on an online discussion on Tehelka’s facebook page. Here is that Discussion:

Sajith Unni: I asked this question on twitter too. Why was there no reply ?

Q : Why was the survey was done by Cogent EMR who sell products that border on quackery? So is there not a financial interest involved?

May 28 at 10:50am ·

Tehelka: The question did not appear on our timeline. Else it wouldn’t have been missed. — Here are all the questions we received..

May 28 at 11:34am·

Sajith Unni: Well I did ask the question directly to Rishi and it shows up on my twitter account. It is still a valid question and maybe you should answer it here. Because it appears that you guys are pushing congent products as part of this story.

May 28 at 12:04pm ·

Vaibhav Prakash: This is utter nonsense. There is no relation between microwave radiation and cancer. As far as the 600 mW/m^2 limit is concerned can you refer me to the ICNIRP article? I myself couldn’t find it in the ICNIRP guidelines. Its a typical case of correlation/causation. Delhi is basically one of the most polluted cities in India, hence many people are bound to have symptoms of fatigue.

May 29 at 10:07am ·

Sajith Unni: @Vaibhav That is correct. Notice there is no response to my questions from anyone at Tehelka including the journalist who carried out this so called survey. Classic case of bad reporting. It appears Tehelka is creating hype to market cogent products.

May 29 at 11:50pm ·

Tehelka: @Sajith
Cogent EMR Ltd. is a company that has done over 30,000 radiation audits all over the country since it’s inception in 2005. Some of these audits have been for telecom operators. Some for reputed private individuals and companies. They have done surveys of EMR levels in cities too (though not over as many spots as they did for Tehelka). For some of these surveys, they have received letters appreciating their work from President APJ Abdul Kalam, in his capacity as President of India, and various central and state ministers. For some of these surveys they partnered with other media concerns - namely the Times Of India and Aaj Tak. I have spoken to scientists Dr V P Sandlas, ex chief controller of the DRDO, and Professor J Behari of the School Of Environmental Sciences JNU. Both of these gentlemen were on a committee consulted by the DoT before it decided to adopt the ICNIRP guidelines. Both have reaffirmed Cogent’s credibility.

More importantly, I couldn’t find any other private concern that conducted EMR audits, and so would be apt for testing EMR levels throughout the city of Delhi. There were government agencies like SAMEER which did this. But why would a government agency undertake a survey which risked showing the government in a bad light?

Now, for your second point. I did not write an article in any way connected to the products Cogent EMR Ltd sells. So their quackery or otherwise is not related to this article. They are an ISO certified company, and their profile on the certification includes that of a company which conducts EMR audits. That was what was relevant to the article.

Finally, w.r.t. the link you pasted on EMR and its health effects, read these instead:

Havas, M. 2007. Analysis of Health and Environmental Effects of Proposed San Francisco Earthlink Wi-Fi Network, Commissioned by SNAFU (San Francisco Neighborhood Antenna Free Union) and presented to Board of Supervisors, City and Country of San Francisco, 51 pp. In this Report - Page 5 : Fig 1 -Guidelines, exposures and effects of radio frequency radiation at various power densities and Page 8 : Fig 2 - Response of residents living in the vicinity of a cellular phone base station in Spain.

600 mW/m2= 600,000 µW/m2= 60 µW/cm2

As seen above - All the above health problems can appear at levels below 10 µW/cm2 = 100 mW/m2 itself.

FRENCH STUDY - (Reference) Santini R, Santini P, Danze JM, Le Ruz P, Seigne M, Investigation on the health of people living near mobile telephone relay stations: Incidence according to distance and sex, Pathology Biology, 50(6), 369-73, 2002 27 -http://www.bevolution.dk/pdf/SantiniEnglishBevolution.pdf

Microwave exposure at levels below the current FCC exposure standard can produce single and double strand breaks in DNA. Damage to DNA is a central mechanism for developing tumors and cancer. When the rate of damage to DNA exceeds the rate at which DNA can be repaired, there is the possibility of retaining mutations and initiating cancer.

Exposure to electromagnetic fields can also reduce melatonin levels that protect the brain. Studies show an increased risk in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s; about four times and three times for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) among those exposed to EMF.

Dr. Agarwal - Director of the Clinical Andrology Laboratory and Reproductive Tissue Bank, and the Director of Research at the Center for Reproductive Medicine in 2006 found that using a mobile phone for more than four hours a day is associated with reduction in sperm viability and mobility of around 25 percent and can cause irreversible infertility in men.

I would like to bring to your notice a study by Dr. Henry Lai, biophysicist at the University of Washington [Video -http://www.blip.tv/file/3283837 - (2:30 min onwards - till 4:45 min) ]. Dr Lai reviewed 350 studies (175 industry funded and 175 non-industry funded) and found that about half showed bio-effects from EM radiation emitted by cell phones. But when he took into consideration the funding sources for those 350 studies, the results changed dramatically. Only 25 percent of the studies paid for by the industry showed effects, compared with 75 percent of those studies that were independently funded.

June 1 at 3:37am ·

Tehelka: @Sajith
Also, Dr Lennart Hardell, professor in oncology and cancer epidemiology at the University Hospital in Orebro, Sweden and his co-workers have studied use of cellular and cordless telephones and the risk for brain tumours.

Conclusion from his work - Results from present studies on use of mobile phones for >10 years give a consistent pattern of increased risk for acoustic neuroma and glioma. The risk is highest for ipsilateral (on the same side of the head where the instrument is held) exposure.

“Our review yielded a consistent pattern of an increased risk for glioma and acoustic neuroma after >10 year mobile phone use. We conclude that current standard for exposure to microwaves during mobile phone use is not safe for long-term exposure and needs to be revised”

Reference
Hardell L, Carlberg M, So¨derqvist F, Hansson Mild K, Morgan LL. Long-term use of cellular phones and brain tumours: increased risk associated with use for >/_10 years. Occup Environ Med 2007;64: 626e32.

Hardell Lennart et al, Epidemiological evidence for an association between use of wireless phones and tumor diseases, Pathophysiology, PATPHY-595, 2009.

Dr. Magda Havas - Environmentalist, Lennart Hardell - Professor of Oncology, Olle Johansson - Immunity based studies, Dr. Henry Lai - Biophysicist at the University of Washington, Dr. George Carlo , Dr. Leif Salford - Neurosurgeon, Cindy Sage (founder of Bioinitiative group) - (all very well know in their field) and many other scientists are extremely concerned on the effects.

The Australian Health Research Institute indicates that due to billions of times more in volume electromagnetic radiation emitted by billions of mobile phones, internet, intranet and wireless communication data transmission, almost one-third of world population (about 2 billion) may suffer from Cell Phone Cancer by 2020. Even if 1% of it comes true it will have devastating consequences to so many people.

(1) Mobile Telecommunications and health research programme (MTHR) Report 2007 - Page 44

(2) Hardell Lennart et al, Epidemiological evidence for an association between use of wireless phones and tumor diseases, Pathophysiology, PATPHY-595, 2009.

(3) Santini R, Santini P, Danze JM, Le Ruz P, Seigne M, Investigation on the health of people living near mobile telephone relay stations: Incidence according to distance and sex, Pathology Biology, 50(6), 369-73, 2002 27 -http://www.bevolution.dk/pdf/SantiniEnglishBevolution.pdf

(4) Santini et al, Survey Study of People Living in the Vicinity of Cellular Phone Base Stations, Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, 22, 41 - 49, 2003 - http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/electro_bio_med_20030001.PDF

(5) Lai H, Singh NP., Single- and double-strand DNA breaks in rat brain cells after acute exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation, Int J Radiat Biol. 1996 Apr;69(4):513-21. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8627134

(6) Paulraj R, Behari J., Single Strand DNA Breaks in Rat Brain Cells Exposed to Microwave Radiation, Mutat Res. 2006 Apr 11;596(1-2):76-80. Epub 2006 Feb 2.

(7) World Health Organization, ELF Health Criteria Monograph. Neurodegenerative Disorders, p187, 2007 - DO NOT USE THIS

(8) Savitz DA, Checkoway H, Loomis DP. Magnetic field exposure and neurodegenerative disease mortality among electric utility workers. Epidemiology, 9, 398-404, 1998a

(9) Ashok Agarwal, Ph.D., H.C.L.D.,a Fnu Deepinder, M.D.,a Rakesh K. Sharma, Ph.D.,a Geetha Ranga, Ph.D.,b and Jianbo Li, Ph.D., Effect of cell phone usage on semen analysis in men attending infertility clinic: an observational study, Fertil Steril. 2008 Jan;89(1):124-8. - http://www.clevelandclinic.org/reproductiveresearchcenter/docs/agradoc239.pdf

(10) Divan HA, Kheifets L, Obel CJ, Olsen, J, Prenatal and Postnatal Exposure to Cell Phone Use and Behavioral Problems in Children, Epidemiology, 2008

(11) http://thegeomancer.netfirms.com/cellphones.htm or http://www.cellphone-health.com/blog/2009/06/cell-phone-for-4-year-olds-bad-idea.html or http://www.cellphone-health.com/cellphonedangers.htm - for radiation penetration in skull study by Dr. Om Gandhi

Of course, it hasn’t been ‘conclusively proved and accepted’ that EMR seriously damages the human body. But such is suspected - by leading scientists and doctors around the world, and it hasn’t been conclusively proved that it doesn’t seriously damage the human body either.

Research on the subject is ongoing. This is why we have spoken about a ‘risk’ of diseases in the article. Not a ‘certainty’. World over, countries go by the ‘precautionary principle’. This means that when the risk to human health is so severe, they would rather avoid it than take it on. This is why other countries have definite enforced rules on where to place their mobile towers - something that is lacking in India, clearly visible from the flouting of government guidelines enumerated in the article.

To end, neither bad nor good reporting can “create a revolution”. People can, provided they ask the right questions.

Thanks,
Rishi

June 1 at 3:37am ·

Tehelka @Vaibhav
Here’s the reference. “Health Issues Related To The Use Of Hand-Held Radiotelephones and Base Transmitters. ICNIRP Statement - April 1996. As for the ICNIRP Guidelines, read them again. They talk about the W/metre square of power which can be a reference level for public exposure at every frequency. This, however is not a reference to ’safe limits’, but a guideline for what each telecom company can emit. There are other references of course - for how EMR may harm:
About Correlation/Causation now. It’s true. We can blame most things on just about anything. Which is why despite innumerable complaints from residents about minor health problems they perceived as arising due to cell phone towers in their vicinity the one case study we cited was that of a man of science, and a successful entrepreneur. He didn’t suffer from fatigue. Excessive exposure from EMR caused him to have a stroke.

Now to address your argument about Delhi being polluted and Delhiites being resigned to fatigue. Fatigue, or cancer, can have numerous causes. And we can go on passing the buck from one to the other. That still doesn’t stop us from eliminating a health risk when we see one - and when it can be eliminated.

June 1 at 3:38am ·

We have presented the entire response by Rishi here in fairness to the reporter. Vaibhav has posted his response to the reporter, Rishi, on the forums. Here is Vaibhav’s response in its entirety.

Hello again,

Let me start off with a simple fact as to why there can’t be a causal relationship between micro or radio waves and cancer. The energy of the particle(photon in this case) is determined by the frequency of the wave and NOT the intensity which is to say the number of particles passing through a unit area in unit time(W/m^2). As far as we know from medical science, cancer is caused due to the breaking of the chemical bonds in DNA molecules of a cell. The energy of these waves is much smaller than the energy required to break the chemical bonds in a DNA molecule. And hence cannot cause cancer even if you increase the intensity of the waves. All they can do is heat up the tissues in our body, which leads to the next question about the threshold levels.

Referring to the ICNIRP guidelines (which is mentioned as your reference in your article), from table 4,6&7 we know; SAR limit for general public: 0.08W/kg between the range of 10MHz-10GHz. Power density limits for general public: 2 - 10 W/m^2 (2000 - 10000 mW/m^2)between the range of 10MHz-300GHz

Please refer me to the page in the ICNIRP guidelines where it says the threshold is 600mW/m^2

SNAFU is not mentioned anywhere in your article.

You sent me three references of the same article from Santini et al. and 2 references of the same article from Hardell at al.
So let me go through those articles first.

The Santini survey shows a significant rise of some of the symptoms(fatigue and headaches) at distances greater than 100m which completely contradicts the fact that the intensity of the wave in inversely proportional to the distance it travels. So the greater the distance from the source the less intense a wave can be. A much higher sampling size is required in order to determine any relationship between these symptoms and the risk of staying near power lines. And that is the problem with all the other references including the Hardell one. If you increase the sampling size the correlation either goes away or there is a negative correlation which is also not plausible. Refer http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100517/f…0.246.html for details.

Another maybe only a minor thing to notice is that all the studies which show a correlation between EMR and cancer are performed on animals which isn’t picked up by the media.

You may find some references of some more studies in these blogs: http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=5207 http://www.skepdic.com/emf.html

I am very rarely impressed from the authoritative argument. Dr.Abdul Kalam also attended Sathya Sai’s function along with other state ministers. So I wouldn’t give into Cogent Ltd. even if he himself vouches for it.

Here’s the article which talks about the risks involved with pacemaker and EMI http://cogprints.org/4305/1/francis.htm

My concern was regarding the scare tactics used by Tehelka. It is one thing to say that recent studies show some correlation but its completely dishonest to give only one side to the layman. Moreover the threshold mentioned in the article and also in the youtube clip is misguiding the layman to believe that the radiation levels in Delhi are the main causes of their illnesses. If you wanted to do a reporting on a science based issue it would be far better than just assume that the layman knows the difference between ionizing and non-ionizing radiations.

Vaibhav Prakash

Due to exponential loss of intensity during propagation of EMR, the radiation from your cell phone is immensely higher in intensity, as far as you are concerned, than the radiation from the tower. In fact, the farther away the tower and the weaker the signal, the harder your cell phone works to put out the signal, thereby increasing your exposure to radiation. Having a cell phone tower nearer to you is a good thing!

In the next part of this series we will discuss some of the other claims made by Rishi Mazumdar and Tehelka. You can continue to follow the story on the forums here.

Moral and Virtuous People Don’t Need God Or Mindless Religion

Prabhakar Kamath — Sat, 22 May 2010 02:09:33 +0000

1. The Original Intent Of Religion And God

The original intent of Hinduism (Brahmanism) was to bring Law and Order into the lawless and chaotic society. That is why religion was known as Dharma -that which holds. The original purpose of creating various gods was to fulfill one’s desires and protect one from evils, both tangible (wicked people) and intangible (vagaries of nature). Gradually vested interests took over the religion, and it became a big business. This is consistent with Law of Solutions: All noble solutions for societal problems sooner or later become problems themselves.

2. All Religions Are A Way Of Life

Hinduism evolved into what it is today by incorporating a wide array of belief systems, while it maintained the elitism of Brahmins within that amorphous entity. So today a wide spectrum of belief systems, some of which are contradictory to each other, could be found in Hinduism. Hindu religionists try to explain away this nebulous feature of Hinduism by uttering parrot-like, “Hinduism is a way of life.” This mindless utterance seems to suggest that other religions are not a way of life. The fact is all religions are more or less a way of life.

Ad by the American Humanist Association

3. Two Broad Aspects Of Hinduism: Mindful And Mindless

The Hindu way of life has two broad aspects: Mindful and mindless. The mindful part of Hinduism consists of moral values and noble virtues, which guide people’s behavior towards others in the society. This is the true aspect of Hindu Dharma. These morals and virtues are timeless and relevant to all people in the world regardless of their beliefs. Since there is no money to be made by this aspect of Hinduism, it has become an orphan. Neglect of moral values and noble virtues is evident in the antisocial and corrupt behavior of most Hindu leaders in power in India today.

Most of today’s Hinduism consists of mindless rituals and traditions, which have absolutely no relevance to the modern times. These rituals evolved over the centuries, often due to misinterpretation of scriptures, and were propagated for financial gains. Yajnas, Poojas, Abhishekas, astrological predictions and a thousand other profit-motivated superstitions have become hallmarks of today’s Hinduism. This aspect of Hinduism is thriving today, as there is a lot of money to be made by means of these shenanigans. To the vast majority of Hindus, this is Hindu Dharma.

4. Moral Values

The moral values prevent us from harming others in the society. These values arise from our conscience, which represents the values our parents put in us. These values basically tell us: You shall not be a bad person! Here is a short list:

1. Do not steal.

2. Do not lie.

3. Do not hurt.

4. Do not betray.

How do we feel when we violate our own moral values? We feel guilty. Guilt is the function of conscience. Readers could add their own pet moral values to this list.

5. Noble Virtues

Noble virtues consist of those behaviors that encourage us to be helpful to others in the society. These values basically tell us: You shall be a good person !

1. Empathy

2. Generosity

3. Forgiveness

4. Humility

5. Kindness

6. Gracefulness

7. Fearlessness

Every single reader of this article is smart enough to know what these virtues stand for. How do we feel when we practice these virtues? Well, we feel good about ourselves.

6. We Don’t Need God Or Religion To Be Good

If one makes a list of these moral values and noble virtues and practices them in his daily life, s/he does not need religion, god, tradition, rituals, fasting, meditation, praying, Swamis, Babas, Gurus, magic, ash, lingam and other nonsensical stuff 99% of Hindu religion is made up of.

One simple way of inculcating noble virtues is to post writings related to them where one could read them often. For example I have the following statement on the wall where I can see it when I talk on phone. This has helped me to make conscious decision to help those who call me asking for my help:

I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good thing, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow human being let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.

Stephen Grellet.

Now give me one valid reason why any moral and virtuous man or woman might need a religion or god? Now let us review a few facts why we should reject the mindless part of religion.

7. Temple-Casino Complexes

Today, thousands of glittering temples in India and abroad have become like Las Vegas casinos attracting millions of mindless devotees seeking fulfillment of their desires and protection from evil. The temple of Tirupati is the best-known temple-casino complex in India. Every year new temple-casino complexes are rising all over India. The ostentatious Swami Narayan Temple in New Delhi is a prime example. Bewildered by Brahmanic charm and trappings, Hindus throng to these temple-casinos and keep gambling away their wealth in mindless rituals hoping against hope that they would someday hit a jackpot, but getting nothing in return. The donation box you see in front of the sanctum sanctorum of every temple is like a slot machine.

There are all kinds of Entertainment Shows in this Las Vegas-like landscape: Babas perform magic shows; Swamis perform sex shows; Yogis perform 70-year starvation shows; freaks perform hanging-by-skin-on-chariot shows, charlatans perform walk-on-fire shows, prostitutes perform dance shows, and the like. In fact the list of freak shows, such as Kumbh Mela, Amar Nath Yatras, bathing in Ganga, procession of ash-smeared naked Sadhus and the like, is very long indeed. Who are the ‘enforcers’ of this wonderland of religion? Well, you guessed it right: RSS, Sri Ram Sene, Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal, and other assorted hire-for-riot men whose only ‘virtue’ is hate-mongering of other religions. Really, there is absolutely no difference between today’s Hinduism and Las Vegas of bygone days when the Mafia controlled the casinos. Now Las Vegas is absolutely honest about the whole shenanigan and Hinduism is still run by hypocritical Brahmanic Mafia, often supported by the government itself, as is the case in Karnataka.

Tell me, why would anyone want to be part of this part of Hindu religion?

Brahmanism And Mental Blocks Of Hindus

Prabhakar Kamath — Fri, 14 May 2010 01:44:00 +0000

This is the last article in Dr. Prabhakar Kamath’s series on the Truth About The Bhagavad Gita. The complete series can be found here.

I am dedicating this final article in my series on The Truth About The Bhagavad Gita to the youth of India. In this article, we will examine how Brahmanism molded the Hindu mind for 3500 years, and how the vast majority of Hindus, deluded by Brahmanic brainwashing, is woefully unprepared for citizenship of a modern, secular democracy as evidenced by so many unsolved potentially catastrophic societal problems plaguing India since independence. The single most important factor contributing to these problems is masterful inaction by citizens of India. This might seem like a rather drastic statement on my part, but I urge readers to weigh the evidence presented in this article before rebutting my assertion. In fact I invite readers to present evidence to the contrary. Nothing would make me happier than someone proving me wrong in my observations.

1. Man’s Three Spheres Of Activity

Everyone in this world has three spheres of activity: Work, home and civic. Today, all over India, millions of doctors, lawyers, engineers, businessmen, scientists and highly educated professional act like perfectly modern people in their work setting. Most of them are smart and competent at what they do.

In their home setting they take care of their families, participate in cultural activities, go to temples, offer Poojas and Yajnas to gods, sing bhajans, bathe in holy rivers, visit pilgrim centers, lunge at the feet of Babas and Swamis, and indulge in other ritual activities not unlike Hindus did more than a thousand years ago. They are conditioned to do these activities by their parents and society. Now these behaviors are on autopilot. Let me concede that there is absolutely nothing wrong with these behaviors whatsoever. In a secular democracy, everyone has the right to practice his religion in his private life as he thinks fit.

But here is the problem: When it comes to the civic setting, these highly educated, successful, and politically conscious people are almost completely inactive. They see huge heaps of garbage and overflowing sewage in the streets, frequent interruption of electricity supply, chronic water shortage, dangerous food and gas adulteration, rampant corruption in government offices, extortion schemes and brutality by the police, and just about every calamity of human existence. They know that the entire government machinery -lawmakers, bureaucrats, judges, police- which was set up to provide essential services to citizens has become an exploitative system par excellence. It is clear as daylight that incompetent and corrupt people run the government machinery set up by honest taxpaying citizens. Here is a typical example of government incompetence and neglect of an essential service:

Bangalore: Wait-listed for water

NDTV Correspondent, Thursday April 29, 2010, Bangalore

Bangalore is facing a severe water crisis. The situation is so bad that people in many localities have to wait for as long as 3-4 days to get the water running through their taps.

To Jayaratna’s relief, a water tanker has finally come home. After 15 days of no water in the taps, on Sunday, she had called up a private water supply company but was told she would have to wait her turn.

“Last year, we used to supply water within four hours of a call. This year, the waiting period is 3-4 days. But we are not able to fulfill all the demands,” said Babu, a private water tanker driver.

The private tanker companies source their water from borewells dug close to one another. And the price people pay for the water depends on how scarce the supply is in their locality.

For a tankerful, which is 6,000 litres, the cost can be anywhere between Rs 200-1,000, sometimes even higher.

“We have to give, even if they ask for Rs 1,000. We need water no? When corporation water doesn’t come, what can we do, tell me? We have to get tanker water only,” Jayaratna said.

Private water tankers make hay while the city’s water crisis deepens. There is no regulation or account on how many such private companies exist or how much they charge. Between three streets alone, there are eight private water companies.

With bad water management and the water supply body, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), clearly not doing enough the people of Bangalore have nowhere to go but to spend a tidy sum on buying precious water.

“It’s not even the peak of summer and already Bangalore’s municipal water supply is down to a trickle,” said P B Ramamurthy, Chairman, BWSSB.

In some areas people get water barely for one hour a day - a shortage expected to worsen by next month.

2. Do Nothing Citizens

And yet the citizens who are fully aware of the widespread rot in the government do absolutely nothing to hold the politicians and bureaucrats accountable for their incompetence and dereliction of duty. In fact, many of these people have become masters at manipulating and benefiting from the corrupt system. They have developed a routine of quid pro quo with the evil forces running and ruining the country.

The question is what is it that makes these highly accomplished and well to do people to be so masterfully inactive when just about every outrage around them needs their militant activism? What unconscious belief system in their mind makes these people so pathologically passive when it comes to performing their civic duties as citizens of a democratic nation? What psychological factors stop them from confronting the errant authorities, who they consciously know are now the servants of the people, and yet unconsciously think they are the masters?

Careful study of Indians would reveal that these people’s unwillingness to perform their civic duties is not the result of ignorance, lack of ability, lack of time or even lack of awareness, but rather the result of certain deep-rooted, unconscious mental blocks. The origins of these psychological barriers or simply mental blocks can, no doubt, be traced to our long feudal past combined with pervasive Brahmanic culture. The chief mental blocks Indians developed were deep-rooted fear of authority, a pervasive feeling of helplessness, and dread of accusation of Ahamkara and of social ostracism.

3. What Is Unconscious Belief System?

Here is another example to illustrate unconscious thinking: A doctor gives an anxious patient a sugar pill and says it would calm him down in a few minutes. The patient calls back within an hour saying that the pill made him deathly sick and that he suffered a severe panic attack. When the doctor asks the patient, “Are you scared of taking medications prescribed by me?“ the patient replies, “I trust you completely and I am not afraid of taking any pill you give me.“ In this case, the patient was not aware of the fact that he was unconsciously scared of taking drugs and distrustful of the doctor. He denied both these, but his unconscious fear of medication and distrust of doctor manifested in his panicky behavior even after taking just a sugar pill. If you take a detailed history of this patient, you would find that many inexperienced doctors traumatized him in the past by recklessly prescribing him dangerous drugs, and now he trusts no doctor, and believes that drugs are bad for him. It would make no difference to him if you told him, “Listen, the drugs are only as dangerous as the doctor prescribing it.” He made a conscious effort to trust doctor and take the pill he gave him, but his unconscious fear brought on a panic attack. If he truly trusted the doctor as he claimed, he would have calmed down immediately due to the placebo effect of the sugar pill.

4. Fear Of Authority Is Rooted In India’s Feudal Past

During the past 3500 years Indians were ruled by despotic Rajas and Maharajas, Chieftains, Islamic Sultans, Islamic emperors, British, and assorted overlords assisted by a cadre of bureaucrats, most of them Brahmins. During the rule by Hindu kings, Brahmins were the real power behind the throne. During the rule of foreign kings, Brahmins acted as the parallel government, which ruled Hindus by means of Brahmanic doctrines as enunciated in the Brahmanic Gita: The doctrine of the Gunas of Prakriti and the Law of Karma. Regardless who ruled the country and collected taxes, Brahmanism was practically the Constitution of India during this entire period. Even under the worst Islamic rule, such as Aurangzeb’s, Brahmanism prevailed. As we read in the previous article, Brahmins protected and safely conveyed civilization from generations to generation.

The rule of the kings was largely dictatorial, with no room whatsoever for dissent. The authority of the king was asserted by means of severe physical punishment meted out by the police and bureaucrats. Often dissenters, even on mere suspicion, were flayed alive, and their bodies stuffed with straw were paraded as an example for other potential upstarts. The rulers and the ruled were separated by a bureaucratic framework that dealt with people somewhat arbitrarily, as it does even today. In the name of the rulers the bureaucrats wielded vast powers. Their message to people was the same over the centuries: Hold your tongue in leash and don‘t do anything that might cost you a limb or your life. Parents discouraged their children from showing any initiative except perhaps in the non-controversial field of art and culture, and that too, only in the service of the aristocracy. “Don’t display any Adhikaprasangam (don’t be and upstart)“ has been a motto which we have inherited from our ancestors, who, of course, had nothing but our welfare in mind. Fear of authority, dinned into our heads for centuries, has been passed on from generation to generation, and it has now become a deep-rooted, unconscious, mental block.

Today, however, even under a vastly different political climate, our deep-rooted fear of authority has survived in us, hindering us from taking any initiative in tackling genuinely relevant civic problems. Our conscious mind knows full well that we are no longer under feudal rule, and that we are today citizens of a democratic country, masters in our own country. Our behavior, however, reflects that unconsciously we still think we are living in a feudal society ruled by the nexus of Kshatriyas and Brahmins. Naturally, our masterful inaction reflects this archaic belief system.

This fear of authority tallies perfectly with the haughty and arbitrary behavior of our politicians and bureaucrats, who are nothing but modern day incarnations of Kshatriyas and Brahmins. Sixty-three years after independence, Indian bureaucracy continues to function exactly like it did under the rule of the Guptas 1500 years ago, or Vijayanagara kings 600 years ago.

5. Brahmanism Brainwashed People That They Were Helpless

Brahmanism was essentially an aristocratic system in which Brahmins and Kshatriyas were the rulers of the land and its main beneficiaries. In this system, Brahmins were the brains and Kshatriyas the brawn. They formed the bases of authority in the society. All classes of people had designated duties, which they were supposed to perform helplessly and faithfully. What determined the duties of a given class of people? It was the Gunas of Prakriti (inherent Qualities of nature) combined with the Law of Karma (”one’s class and life circumstances are determined by the Karmaphalam he earned in his previous life”) determined one’s duty in the society.

Over a hundred generations, Brahmins brainwashed people into believing that they were totally helpless in the face of the Gunas of Prakriti and Law of Karma, which were the foundation of Varna Dharma. Everyone must accept his class and destiny, which one is powerless to change. Prince Krishna explained this Brahmanic thinking to doubtful Arjuna (who symbolized renegade Kshatriyas of post-Vedic period) in Arjuna Vishada:

3:5: None can ever remain really action-less even for a moment (no one can say he won’t perform his designated duty), for everyone is helplessly driven to action by the Gunas of Prakriti (the force of the Gunas is greater than your will).

3:33: Even a wise man (Brahmin) behaves in conformity with his own nature (Guna); beings (helplessly) follow nature; what is the point in repressing it (why refuse to follow it)?

18:60: Bound by your own Karma (fruits of your deeds from your prior life) born of your nature (Guna), that (duty), which from delusion (of egoism) you wish not to do, even that you shall do helplessly against your will!

Repression of individuality except in promoting Brahmanic interests such as arts and culture became the hallmark of Brahmanic society over the centuries. As long as one performed his socially designated duty helplessly as per his Guna and Karma, he enjoyed respect, honor and status in the society:

18:46: Devoted each to his own (class designated) duty (as per his Gunas and Karma), man attains the highest perfection. Hear from me how engaged in his own duty he attains perfection.

What is meant by highest perfection in Brahmanic society? Well, this means one would go to heaven after death and live a better life on earth in this and his next birth. In this scheme of things, there was no room for assertion of individuality. There was not a damn thing one could do to change anything. One must just shut his mouth and do as Brahmanic authorities dictated him. Therein lay the stability of the society, and safety and welfare of the aristocracy as well as people of lower classes.

The relic of this system is still seen in India in the Republic Day farce of honoring people with Padma this and Padma that for being the obedient and productive citizens of India. No person who challenges the class and caste inequities of Indian society, injustice of Indian bureaucracy, corruption in politics or atrocity of the police, would ever be awarded such honors. The mainstream Indians as well as the government ostracizes such people. It is a pity that today thousands of people use their ‘influence’ to get these awards for self-aggrandizement and profit.

6. Fear Of Being Accused Of Ahamkara

The question might arise, “Why didn’t people defy these doctrines?”

Indeed a large section of Brahmanic society revolted against the authority of Brahmins, abandoned it, and joined heterodox Dharmas such as Buddhism and Jainism in the post-Vedic period. Ashoka the Great was the final straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back. The Brahmanic Code of the Warrior, which required Kshatriyas to be enemy burners (Paranthapa) and conquerors of wealth (Dhananjaya) disgusted Ashoka. Unlike other royals, Ashoka did not depend on Brahmin advisors before making decisions pertaining to the state. Not only did he abandon Kshatriya Dharma, but also he patronized Buddhism. In defiance of Brahmanism, in his edicts he practically usurped the authority of Brahmins and indulged in much self-aggrandizement. He referred to himself as, “Beloved of the gods,” “Priyadarshini (of lovely bearing), “promoter of Dharma,” “father of my subjects” and other titles, which Brahmins took grave exception to, and considered as sign of pathological egoism. Ashoka’s assertion of individuality, his disdain for Brahmins, his dislike for Brahmanism, his disgust for rituals, his refusal to fight and his tooting his own horn meant his Ahamkara (egoism and egotism) deluded him. Brahmins decided to put him as well as other renegade Kshatriyas in their place in the parable of Arjuna Vishada, which was created specifically for this purpose:

3:27: The Gunas of Prakriti perform all Karma (don’t delude yourself that your will is stronger than the force of the Gunas). With the mind deluded by Ahamkara (egoism) man (Ashoka and renegade Kshatriya) thinks, “I am the doer.”

18:59: If filled with egoism you think, “I will not fight,” vain is this, your (puny) resolve; your nature (Guna) will compel you (to perform your duty).

From then on accusation of suffering from the delusion of Ahamkara became the ultimate weapon of Brahmanism. Since Brahmanism could not inflict physical punishment like the kings, they resorted to psychological deterrents. To this day, every Brahmanic Guru uses this weapon against critics of Brahmanism. In the Brahmanic society anyone who ever said, “I did this” or “I think like this” “I reject this” risked being accused of Ahamkara. The message of Brahmanism to the lay public was loud and clear: “Your Ahamkara does not behoove you. Do your socially designated duty helplessly and faithfully and be a good citizen. Performing one’s own Dharma, however imperfectly, is better than performing another’s perfectly (3:35). If you see any evil in this system, remember all systems are attended with inherent evil (18:48). That is no reason rebel against it or abandon it. Do not be an upstart.”

7. Dishonor In The Society Is Worse Than Death

For the accusation of Ahamkara to stick, Brahmanism needed another weapon in their arsenal: Shame. This is what one feels when people in the society think less of him and he loses honor among his peers. Every person who defied Brahmanic diktat ran the risk of dishonor and social ostracism. This is reflected in prince Krishna’s admonition of Arjuna who represented renegade Kshatriyas in the allegorical parable of Arjuna Vishada:

2:2-3: Whence has this unmanly, heaven barring and shameful dejection come upon you at this critical juncture, Arjuna? Yield not to feebleness. It does not befit you. Cast off this petty faint-heartedness. Wake up, O vanquisher of foes!

2:33: If you refuse to wage this righteous war, forfeiting your own (socially designated) duty and honor, you will incur sin.

2:34: People will forever recount your infamy. To the honored, infamy is worse than death. The great chariot-warriors will view you as one fled from the war out of fear; you that were highly esteemed by them will be lightly held.

During my work in India as a consumer activist I was struck by the frequency with which I heard people express fear of dishonor and blame before doing any work they considered as controversial. I frequently heard statements from even highly educated people, “Baba, I don’t want to be blamed for things going wrong!” Or, “What would ten people think if something went wrong.” I rarely met people who said, “I don’t care what anyone thinks. I will do what is right.”

Upanishadists tried to cancel-out these Brahmanic weapons in the Bhagavad Gita itself, but to no avail. Here is how Upanishadic Krishna countered Brahmanism’s dictum:

18:63: Thus have I declared wisdom (of the Upanishadic doctrines of all-pervading Brahman and Buddhiyoga) more profound than all profundities (the Brahmanic doctrines of the Gunas of Prakriti and the Law of Karma) to you. Reflect upon it fully (you are quite capable of thinking for yourself) and act as you choose (you are not helpless at all. You are quite capable of willfully choosing the course of action).

8. Pathological Passivity Is The Result Of Mental Blocks

Fear of government authority rooted in feudalism, helplessness in the face of the Gunas and Karma, fear of being accused of Ahamkara for not toeing the line, and fear of incurring dishonor in the society have manifested in India as pathological passivity. Passivity simply means inaction; pathological passivity is an active phenomenon, “I refuse to act.” In the course of my work as consumer activist in India, I identified five varieties of pathological passivity. I have shown the underlying unconscious thinking in quotes:

1. Passive indifference: “I am totally helpless and so there is no point in doing anything.”

2. Passive dependence: “Would you please solve my problems for me, for I feel totally helpless and scared?’

3. Passive non-cooperation: “Solve this problem for me, but don’t count on me to do anything. I am too scared and passive for this adventure.”

4. Passive opposition: “I won’t do anything, and if you do something I will criticize you and oppose you for I am jealous of you.”

5. Passive sabotage: “I will pretend to help you, but in reality I will undermine your efforts. I think you are upsetting the applecart.”

Anyone taking leadership in social activism in India should take into consideration these traits in Indians and develop appropriate strategies to counter them. Politicians are good at capitalizing on these helplessness-fear-dependency traits in Indians. It is easy for young activists to fall into the trap of doing everything for these people, and in the process make them even more dependent on them, and become a corrupt “big shots” themselves!

9. Sycophancy

The four mental blocks mentioned above often lead to sycophancy and excessive humility so often seen in some Indians. They seek out powerful people such as politicians, Swamis, Babas, Gurus and bureaucrats and become their hangers on, or as they are known in India, Chamchas. Most of these Chamchas are opportunists who do not hesitate for a minute to abandon their quarries once they bite the dirt. I have personally observed such overnight shifting of loyalty. The tradition of sycophancy goes back to the Vedas in which Arya people praised their gods profusely for favors. Subsequently, Brahmins did this in their panegyrics to shore up egos of their patron kings and line up their own pockets. We see this spectacle all over India in the slightly disguised form of honoring the powerful in public meetings. In India obsequious behavior toward authority figures is a rule rather than exception. There is always an ulterior motive in the person who organizes these honoring programs. Now even ordinary people indulge in this practice shamelessly with obvious or not so obvious goal of protecting themselves or gaining something. Recently a physics professor of Indian origin currently living in the U. S. revealed to me that he had carefully cultivated a CBI officer and a lawyer in New Delhi with the goal of using them “just in case I was in some trouble when I visit India.” During his annual visit to India, he lavishly wines and dines these two guys and indulges in much Chamchagiri. Such obsequious behavior is deep-rooted and common among significant percent of Hindus I have met.

10. Extremes Of Reaction

One side effect of repression of individuality is that people react in extremes when their anger and frustration finally spills over. On the one extreme, they act passive and helpless. They repress their rage like a compressed spring and suffer silently. Then even a small trigger could unleash the spring. Next thing you know they lose all control and lash out in fury. They riot in the streets, burn busses, cars and tires in the street, set buildings on fire, and destroy property. Such mindless destructive behavior is endemic in India. In public meetings, it does not take much for even educated people to suddenly erupt into a mindless mob. Moderation in expressing dissatisfaction is almost never seen. I rarely meet people who respond to an unpleasant situation in a balanced manner. Here is an example of how even lawyers, the guardians of the Constitution of India, behave like hooligans in public when upset over a relatively minor issue:

Lawyers wave black flags at Karunanidhi

Press Trust of India, Sunday April 25, 2010, Chennai (Video)

A section of lawyers on Sunday turned violent, shouted slogans and waved black flags at Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi in a function at the Madras High Court in protest against his visit.

The lawyers’ action led to tense moments at the function, which was also attended by Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan and Union Law Minister V Veerappa Moily, to unveil the statue of B R Ambedkar.

As soon as Karunanidhi began his address, some lawyers shouted slogans, threw chairs, waved black flags and attacked two camerapersons of private television channels and snatched their equipment, trying to disrupt the function.

NDTVHindu cameraperson Devaraj was on the spot and was beaten by the lawyers.

The lawyers said it was not right on the chief minister’s part to participate in a function after the clash between advocates and police on February 19 last year.

It was Karunanidhi’s first visit to the court premises after the clash, in which several lawyers, a judge and policemen were injured.

Madras High Court Chief Justice H L Gokhale gestured at the lawyers to remain calm, but it had no effect.

Top police officers including City Police Commissioner Rajendran and DGP Letika Saran also tried to bring order by asking them to disperse, but they refused to pay heed.

Undeterred by protests, Karunanidhi continued his speech and said he had faced similar incidents in his 70 years of public life. “I have learnt this from late Chief Minister Anna,” he said.

“In my political life, I have been arrested by police and lawyers have helped me to safeguard my rights,” he remarked, seeking to calm down the protesting lawyers.

However, no arrests were made.

The clash last year had occurred when some lawyers, agitating on Sri Lankan issue, were arrested on charge of assaulting Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy in the court premises.

11. Ritualism Rather Than Results

The tendency of Hindus to indulge in ritualistic activities even in their civic life, which do not obtain results, is rooted in Brahmanism. When the price of sugar spirals upwards, they hold a protest march. They do not stop for a minute to think if that would bring down the price of sugar. Likewise, they indulge in numerous seemingly mindless activities such as Rasta Rokho (blocking road traffic), making lengthy speeches, which no one listens to, shouting slogans and so on, without stopping for a minute to think if the energy thus spent is worthwhile. The only result of such ritualism is unnecessary turmoil and violent situations, besides wasting a lot of time and energy. Joining hands with others, analyzing the problem, developing solid strategies and tactics to tackle the problems, and persistence in finding viable solutions is rarely, if ever, seen.

12. The Old Dharma Versus The New Dharma

Modern India is facing a greater threat to its integrity from Brahmanism than ever before. One major problem India faces today is that most Brahmanic loyalists’ allegiance is to Brahmanism rather than to India even though they claim to be great patriots. Their mindset is that of people living in 10^th century. They consider India as Hindu Desh, the land of Hindus, and Brahmanism as its Constitution. Separation of state and religion is beyond the comprehension of their narrow minds and dull intellects. They have no faith in the Constitution, India’s New Dharma. Take any problem in India today, and you will discover that it is as a result of conflict between the Old Dharma and New Dharma.

Now their ideology has turned into antisocial activities. The burgeoning fundamentalism, extremism, goondaism and terrorism we witness today in India, perpetrated by ignorant Hindutva fanatics against people of other Dharmas and those Hindus not following the dictates of Brahmanism, can be traced directly to the pernicious influence of narrow-minded, dogmatic and decadent Brahmanism on theoretically broad-minded and tolerant Hindu Dharma. Here is an example of Brahmanism’s militancy against other Dharmas:

Ajmer blast: Closing in on radical Hindu link

NDTV Correspondent, Friday April 30, 2010, Ajmer

The Rajasthan Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) have picked up one person named Devendra Gupta from Ajmer’s Bihariganj area for his alleged involvement in the Ajmer Dargah blast in October 2007.

The ATS were watching him for the last six months. Gupta who is affiliated to a Hindu extremist group had allegedly purchased the SIM cards for the mobile hand set which triggered the blasts killing 2 people and injuring more than 15 people.

Earlier the ATS chief while speaking to NDTV in April last year had said that the man may have links to the Hindu extremist group.

“Ajmer blast investigation is still inconclusive, we haven’t yet cracked the case. We are looking at various possibilities and the organization you have mentioned has been found involved in the Malegaon case and that is certainly under our scanner now,” said Kapil Garg, Additional Director General of Police and ATS Chief, Rajasthan.

PTI adds:

The accused is expected to be produced before a local court today, police sources said.

Officials are also probing Gupta’s alleged link with Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, a key suspect in the Malegaon blast case.

They said Gupta was staying in Jharkhand and had come to Ajmer on Wednesday. A SIM card recovered from the blast site helped police trace him, they said. End.

13. Paramilitary Forces Of Brahmanism

These misguided and lawless miscreants build paramilitary outfits named after Hindu gods (Rama Sena, Bajrang Dal) and the seventeenth century Hindu king Shivaji (Shiv Sena), and go on mindless rampage against anyone who questions their sanity and that of their brainless leaders. None of these hoodlums ever spend a day in jail. Not only are these hooligans discrediting their religion, but also they are bringing bad name to Rama, Hanuman and Shivaji by their lawlessness. Saffron-clad Brahmanic leaders as well as their political godfathers of Brahmanic leanings (as evidenced by the prominent tilak over their foreheads) overtly or covertly encourage these extra-constitutional para military forces.

14. What Is Taliban To Islam, Brahmanism Is To Hinduism

While Brahmanic loyalists loudly decry fundamentalism of Islamic Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, they are following the same narrow-minded, self-destructive and treasonous path themselves. What is Taliban to Islam, Brahmanism is to Hinduism. The blame for this should be placed squarely on the heads of Brahmanic religious leaders and their brainless followers. What is their justification for their despicable acts? “Muslims and Christians are not any better, Sar! Our government itself is protecting them against us, Sar!” “We have no choice but to take the law into our own hands, Sar!” And we often hear a lot more such Brahmanic bullshit.

15. Deshadrohis, Not Deshabhaktas

Such antinational behavior must be considered as treasonous since it breeds hatred in the hearts of the adherents of other Dharmas leading to violent retaliation and perpetual turmoil in the long run. There is no place for this kind of behavior in a secular democracy functioning under the Rule of Law. In a religiously diverse society, the dominant religion must exercise the greatest restraint in the display of its raw power against the minority religions. India belongs to people of all religions. India is no longer Hindustan. Hindus live in India side by side with Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Jains, Parsees, Jews, Atheists, Communists, Animalists, and people with scores of other diverse belief systems. Brahmanic loyalists have every right to practice their decadent Dharma in their personal life within the framework of India’s Constitution. They have no right to impose by force their beliefs, traditions, culture and rituals on anyone including Hindus whose lifestyle is more modern than theirs.

The Brahmanic fanatics are too shortsighted and stupid to realize this.

If they continue to give vent to their resurfacing repressed hatred for other religions, sooner or later, their fanaticism would ignite the fire of communal conflicts, which could engulf the whole Indian nation in religious conflagration. What happened in Godhra, Gujarat in 2002 could happen all over India again and again. I have no hesitation in saying that these extremists, who pride themselves as Deshabhakthas (patriots), are in reality Deshadrohis (traitors) -enemies of the Indian Nation and Indian Constitution.

16. Secular Message In The Bhagavad Gita: Perform Your Civic Duty

This brings us to the conclusion of our series. The final question is, “Is there a secular message in the Bhagavad Gita, especially for the younger generation?”

The answer is, “Yes, of course!” The secular message to the young activists of India who want to make India a better country could be found in the following Upanishadic shlokas meant to convert errant Kshatriyas into Karmayogis (selfless activists):

3:7: He excels, who, restraining his Senses (desire for and attachment to sense objects such as money, power) directs his organs of action to the path of (selfless) work. (Become selflessly active in pubic service).

3:8: Engage yourself in obligatory work (public service), for action is superior to inaction, and if inactive, even the mere maintenance of our body would not be possible. (Give up your passivity and do your obligatory civic duties.)

How can we change others?

3:21: Others follow whatever a great man does; people go by the examples he set up. (We can change others only by our example).

3:25: As the ignorant ones act out of attachment to fruits, the enlightened act without attachment to fruits, desirous of guidance of the masses. (For an activist to guide the masses, he must behave in a manner that clearly separates him from the corrupt leaders as evidenced by his selfless acts).

3:26: Do not unsettle the mind of ignorant people who are attached to fruits of action. The wise induce others in all activities by doing their task persistently and precisely. (It is pointless to argue with people who are selfishly motivated; all we can do is to be persistent and precise in what we do. Hopefully that would induce ignoramuses to change their behavior.)

Finally, let us accept the realities of India as a reflection of the realities within us. Let us shed our mental blocks, the destructive relics of our ‘glorious’ ancient past, and get in touch with our long-repressed inner strengths. Let us shift some of our energy from the fruitless rituals in the home sphere to the socially beneficial activities in the civic sphere. Let us spend just a few hours a week to bring about some changes for the better in the communities we live in. Let us stand up and fight back the evil forces keeping in mind that the real battles are fought on the battlegrounds of our mind and not in the streets of India. Jai Bharat!

END OF THE SERIES ON THE TRUTH ABOUT THE BHAGAVAD GITA

Dr. Prabhakar Kamath, is a psychiatrist currently practicing in the U.S. He is the author of Servants, Not Masters: A Guide for Consumer Activists in India (1987) and Is Your Balloon About Pop?: Owner’s Manual for the Stressed Mind.

Nirmukta Advisory Board and National Coordinator Appointed On Temporary Basis

Editor — Mon, 03 May 2010 11:27:10 +0000

The team of activists at Nirmukta have two big announcements to make. These announcements carry certain important implications for the future of organized Freethought in India.

Before getting to the announcements, here is a statement explaining our use of the words ‘Freethought’ and ‘Nirmukta’. The word ‘Freethought’ is a fairly well-defined term to denote a point of view that rejects dogma, tradition and authority in favor of reason, logic and science. As a category it forms an umbrella term that incorporates social, political and philosophical modalities such as skepticism, rationalism, empiricism, naturalism, humanism, atheism, secularism and so forth. The word ‘Nirmukta’ is a Sanskrit word that means ‘Freed’ or ‘Liberated’. It is often used to describe a state of mind when one is liberated from the unenlightened ideas and repressive social conditions that bind us, keeping us from realizing the true splendor of reality. Nirmukta is freedom from dogma.

The Announcements:

I. The first announcement is about the newly formed Nirmukta Advisory Board.

As regular readers will know, the Nirmukta team has plans to register Nirmukta as a non-profit organization in the near future. There will soon be management and advisory roles to be filled on a permanent and official basis, but until then the Nirmukta Advisory Board is an unofficial solution to facilitate organization and planning. The board will coordinate the work through regular online meetings and frequent discussions on the forums.

At present the Nirmukta Advisory Board consists of:

1. Prof. Narendra Nayak - President of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations (FIRA)

2. Dr. Prabhakar Kamath - Founder of the Consumer Rights Movement in India

3. Shobhit Gupta - IT Professional living in Florida, coordinating the Media Network.

4. Rakshi Rath - PhD student in Psychology, filmed Prof Nayak on his recent tour.

5. Siddharth Singh - Social Networking Director and Associate Editor of Nirmukta.

6. Pankaj Kulkarni - Software Executive from Bangalore. Coordinator for Nirmukta Bangalore.

7. Babu Gogineni - International Director of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU)

8. Ajita Kamal - Founder, Editor and general coordinator of Nirmukta

II. The Nirmukta Advisory Board has approved the appointment of Dr. N. Bala as the National Coordinator of Nirmukta, on a temporary basis until the organization is registered. Dr. Bala is one of the coordinators of the Orkut group, Atheism in India, which has over 2000 members. He is also the creator of IndianHumanist.org and is an active participant in the Nirmuka Bangalore regional group. Dr. Bala will work in concert with the Nirmukta Advisory Board.

Looking Ahead

The Nirmukta Advisory Board is working on two broad areas of interest.

1. Media Network - We are putting together a team of websites, journalists and writers, programmers, designers, artists, filmmakers and PR people to help form a network of media resources with the agenda of promoting Freethought in India. We have already held two meetings, and a report on the progress of the media network will soon follow.

2. Regional groups - The online organizational work at Nirmukta will run parallel with on-ground activism, beginning with the establishment of regional groups across the country. Although there are many rationalist groups in India, we feel that there is a need for a nation-wide network of groups that connect young and progressive Indian Freethinkers. Our Bangalore group is the most active one at the moment, although we are seeing interest from Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai.

Dr. Bala will begin acting in his capacity as coordinator, contacting individuals and groups across the country. His appointment helps bring the vast atheist community on the Orkut Atheism in India group together with the members of the Nirmukta facebook group, the Carvaka group on facebook, the Indian Atheists fan page on Facebook and the Indian Atheists group on Atheist Nexus, all of which have been under Nirmukta management since their inception.

Our plan is to build a large online coalition for Freethought in India. Join us, the movement needs you!

Email Us:

General Inquiries contact, Ajita or Siddharth: info@nirmukta.com, siddharth@nirmukta.com, ajita@nirmukta.com

Coordinating with Nirmukta contact, Dr. Bala : drnbala@nirmukta.com

Media Network related questions contact, Shobhit : shobhit@nirmukta.com

Video/Youtube related inquiries contact, Bala: videos@nirmukta.com

Note: This announcement has also been posted on the forums here. Please join us on the forums and become part of the Indian Freethought community.

Nirmukta Forums (nirmukta.net) Wallpaper, by Bala. (Click on Image)

Freethought News: Nirmukta Forums, SEA-Atheists, Meet Narendra Nayak (Poll)

Editor — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 11:09:29 +0000

Here are some news items.

1. Nirmukta Forums- The Only One Of Its Kind In India: Nirmukta.net, our very own online discussion forum for the Nirmukta Freethought Community, was launched successfully last Monday, the 5^th of April, 2010. Membership hasn’t sky-rocketed yet, but it is increasing steadily. These are the only privately hosted forums that deal exclusively with issues concerning the freethought community in India, as far as we know. Given the size of the country and the number of IT professionals that it produces, the potential for activism and community-building at these forums is all the more important.

There is one reason why we cannot rely too much on social media sites like Facebook, when it comes to our community-building. These sites are not owned by the community or freethought group, but by large corporations that often pander to the lowest denominators in society by restricting freedom of speech and expression. That, and the fact that our personal information is likely to be kept more private when we use our own privately owned forums, makes this initiative an essential tool in our moving forward. A third reason is that Facebook is a terrible way to archive information. A forum, on the other hand, is much better at providing search results on google and at retaining retrievability if you wish to go back and dig up a conversation from years ago.

2. SEA-Atheists- Promoting Atheism In South-East Asia: We reported a while ago about the formation of the South-East Asian atheists forums, labelled SEA-Atheists. Now they have a complete website, with separate pages for Indonesian, Singapore, Filipino and Malaysian atheists, agnostics and freethinkers. Friend of Nirmukta’s and key figure behind the initiative, Karl Karnadi, sent us this statement about the site:

“ This website contains information about communities of non-believers in South-East Asia. Yes, non-believers: Atheists, Agnostics, Secular Humanists, Freethinkers, and with whatever name we choose, we are everywhere. From Islam majority countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, to the Catholic Philippines, and Singapore, we exist. Some of us choose to be open about our non-belief, some others don’t. To all of you non-believers, especially those who live in South-East Asian countries: You are not alone!”

3. Host Professor Narendra Nayak In Your City (Poll): Professor Narendra Nayak is the President of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations, an umbrella body consisting of more than 65 Rationalist groups in India. He has been travelling the country, conducting training programs, workshops, demonstrations and debunkings. He has been doing this work for nearly 30 years and is the official successor of Basava Premanand. Professor Nayak’s articles can be found here.

If you would like to host Professor Narendra Nayak in your city and learn from his extensive knowledge on issues that concern the freethought movement in India, visit this page on the forums and vote in the poll. If your city is not on the list and you’d like to have it added, please leave a comment here or on the forums under the thread containing the poll (linked to above). While at the forums, please take a look around and consider participating in the discussions to help our community grow and become enriched. Last day for voting will be announced later this month. The poll will be open for about 2 months or so.

Narendra Nayak at a Recent Event

Indian Rationalist Activist Narendra Nayak’s Programme for April-May, 2010

Narendra Nayak — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 21:35:22 +0000

Editor’s Note: Indian Rationalist Activist and president of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations, Narendra Nayak, announces his schedule for the April-May tour.

March 30^th Mumbai
March 31^st Mumbai to Patna.
April 1^st to 5^th training program for North Bihar at Sitamarhi. Contact persons- Zeaullah 09431404942, Suman- 09431853680
April 6^th to 10^th training program for Central Bihar at Begusarai. Contact persons same as above.
April 11^thto 15^thtraining program for East Bihar at Lakhisarai. Contact persons same as above.

The training programs in Bihar are being organised by Science for Society, Bihar and are sponsored by the NCSTC, Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India. These are about creating scientific temper among people and are labelled as miracle exposure programs. The enrolment to these may be subject to the approval of the organisers, but interested people are not unwelcome.

On April 16^th Professor Nayak will be returning to Mumbai from Patna and then heading back to Mangalore on the 19th. The next series of programs are in Bangalore/Mysore/Bangalore as follows:

April 24^th meeting with the atheist group. Contact persons- Pankaj- 09845636654 and Raj- 9972095475.
April 25^th interaction with children at a Summer camp at Akhila Karnataka Makkala Okkuta, Chamrajpet, Bangalore from 2pm-4pm. Contact person- Subba Rao-9886679088.
Same date as above, evening interactions with residents of a colony in Bangalore. Contact person- Niranjan-9448348528.
April 26^th, Life Insurance Co. Employees Union.
April 28^th, program at Pandavapura near Mysore.
April 30^th to May 2^nd, state level training program in developing scientific temper at Bangalore. Contact person- Satish 9945225015. This three day training program will be conducted by the Science Society, Bangalore. The schedule, location and enrollment details can be ascertained from Satish at the Science Society.
May 8^th and 9^th there is a training program at Kozhikode (formerly known as Calicut) organised by the Science Trust, Kozhikode for young volunteers from all over Kerala State. Contact person- Sajit- 09846024230.
May 14^th to 16^th there will be a training camp at the Atheist Center in Vijayawada.
May 26^th and 27^th, programs at Mysore. Contact person- Krishne Gowda-9844405284.

Professor Narendra Nayak is the president of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations (FIRA). For more details, contact him at narenyen (at) gmail.com