Tamilnadu, formerly known as Madras State, is where the Self-Respect Movement was first started by E.V.Ramaswamy in the early years of the twentieth century. It was for the first time that the so-called ‘lower castes’ rebelled against the hegemony of the Brahmins, and started a movement that rejected all superstitions, religious rituals and the highest superstition of them all- god! In this state whichever party comes to power has to conform to the ideology of EVR Thanthai Periyar as he came to be known. So, in this state one can expect the ideology of the rationalist movement to be accepted without any significant opposition.   Read the full story

The treatment know as Cytotron therapy has no scientific basis and is not noted in any approved text book on cancer therapy or prescribed by any oncologists. But for the past few months this “therapy” has been advertised as a cure for cancer. In its latest avatar, the ad carried the name of a doctor. After we had threatened to complain to the State Medical Council and get his name struck from the medical register for advertising unproved remedies, it disappeared.

But the ads continue to run today. Since the matter is an offense under the Drugs and Magic remedies (Objectionable Advertisements Act), we have brought this to the attention of the assistant drugs controller for Dakshina Kannada for necessary action under the act.

It is criminal to raise false hope in patients by promising cures for which there is no evidence. The entire ad is misleading. We could as well make up one as follows:

Ms. Meena Kumari (name changed), 53 years old, complained of dysentery and was diagnosed with cancer etc. etc. She went in for a quack treatment at ABCD clinic for XYZ therapy and passed away within 3 months. Which goes to prove that XYZ therapy is fake and can be fatal within a short time. It is not known whether the cancer was the cause of her mortality or the quack therapy that promised a very rapid cure.

I request oncologists and physicians to take up this issue with their respective bodies and announce to the public the facts about whether this therapy is approved for public use. In general treatments for diseases are not advertised in India, except by quacks, which should make us suspicious of the antecedents of the treatment and the administrators of the same.

First a quick recap of the events: We had reported on one Mr. Bhaskar Shetty who hit the headlines of DNA’s Bangalore edition on the 23^rd of December, 2009. He had promised to teach me a lesson by demonstrating how scientific asstrology is! He had claimed that he could tell the gender and dead/alive status of 10 individuals within 80% accuracy, using just the date, place and time of birth of the individuals. However, he wanted the conditions to be fool-proof. He was also not interested in the money offered- one million rupees, but only wanted to prove how scientific his method was. I had agreed to an even more fool-proof method of giving him the date, time and place of birth of people who were very much alive and also in the age group 20-30. I just wanted him to tell us if the subjects were male/female, employed/unemployed, married/unmarried and what their educational qualifications were. All of these could have been easily verified from the subjects after the predictions were made, since their mobile numbers would have been placed in sealed and numbered envelopes. The reply from Bhaskar Shetty was that he was willing, but he was insistent that the challenge had to take place in Bangalore. Since, he did not want the prize money, I had waived off the security deposit and had fixed the date at Bangaluru on the 14^th of January,2010. After this Shetty got out of the challenge under the pretext that his son’s marriage was to take place in the first week of February. So, I had extended the date by 2 months and had fixed the challenge date for  the 14^th of March, and had announced the venue and time. Read the full story

12 March 2010:

Right after the Annual Conference held in Kolkata, our Bankura branch has jumped into action. A tribal girl, Putul Tudu aged 12, was to be given away in marriage against her will. This is not only illegal in India, but unethical and inhumane as well. On the 9^th of March this year our secretary from Bankura, Biplab Das, and another member, Tarun Rakshit, visited the remote Housibad village amidst the jungles of Taldangra and managed to stop the wedding.

Famous Bankura Art

Biplab Das informed the police and had the girl rescued. It is not common among tribals to marry so young. Also, tribal youths normally choose their own partners with each other’s consent. This was an exceptional case, probably urged by extreme poverty.

Within two days Biplab Das and his friends got the girl admitted to the local Taldangra Girls’ School and also managed to get her hostel accommodation. The hostel, Kasturba Gandhi, offers residence to local girl students at a nominal cost.

This incident will act as a precedent and deter other such stray incidents in the poor tribal zone. The village panchyat will also be able to take similar steps whenever necessary. Congratulations to Biplab and his assistants Tarun and Prasanto!

Sumitra Padmanabhan
General Secretary, Humanist’s Association of India

Note: This article is an update on this story reported earlier. The author is the president of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations.

Disclaimer: This report is about an allegedly paranormal phenomenon reported in media. The report is the result of the visit of a team of rationalists to the place where the alleged ‘miracle’ has been taking place. It is part of an attempt to investigate happenings, under the section 51 AH of the constitution of India which outlines the duties of a citizen. It is not an attempt to hurt anyone’s religious sentiments or cause any friction between any groups belonging to the same or different religions. The team consisted of officebearers of FIRA and KYS.

After the statues of Mary shedding tears and blood it is the turn of flex prints now! In the St.Mary’s Jacobite Chapel, Kattachira flex prints of Mary with Infant Jesus have started discharging an oily liquid with an aromatic smell. On the 6^th March some of us had the opportunity to visit the place, after our request was acceded to by Mathew Theodosios Metropolitan of the Kollam Diocese, under which the chapel is located. It may be recalled that this so-called miracle had hit the headlines in a section of the media in Kerala around October, 2009.

On reaching the place, we were taken to meet with the cor episcopal Abraham Mannikarottu and his group of priests and devotees, where there were heated debates about the Kerala Yuktivadi Sangham’s campaign, matters of faith and various such issues. Finally at around 12.30 we were taken around the place by the cor episcopal and his group. What happened is as follows in the form of a statement issued to him. Our opinions are expressed separately. Read the full story

Virgin Mary’s Tears to be Tested for Authenticity

Rationalists from the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations, headed by president professor Narendra Nayak, will be testing the veracity of the claims made by locals and priests alike that the image of the Catholic religious figure is shedding tears. The Bishop has invited the Rationalists to make sure that this phenomenon being hailed by locals as a miracle is not a scam. This event will take place on the 6^th of March, 2010 at Alleppey in Kerala.
After this event, the rationalists are holding a press conference in which the flex print of Premanand is going to shed tears, because he is very sad that cheap stupid tricks are being passed off as miracles.

It is not shedding tears now, but will do so on the 6^th

Also please note that there will be a rationalist training program by Dr. Nayak on the 7^th, at Alleppey.

The contact person for details on all three events (miracle investigation, press conference and training program) is Anil Kumar of the Kerala Yuktivadi Sangam. Phone no:+919846126080.

Update: The follow-up after the conclusion of the official investigation has been posted here.

Dates: 6-7 March, 2010

Location: Mulali Juba Kendra Hall near Moulali crossing close to Sealdah station, Kolkata.

The Science & Rationalists Association of India ( Bharatiya Bigyan O Yuktibadi Samity) has completed 25 fruitful years. There will be a  celebration of the silver jubilee on 6-7 March 2010. The annual conference will also be held during the two days with delegates attending seminar, workshop and interactive session during the day. The program on the evening of March 7, 2010 will be open to all. For more details about our activities you may visit our website, www.srai.org.

The program on the 7th will start from 5 pm with songs and discussion by the veteran Bengali folk song maestro Sri Swapan Basu, followed by our anti-superstition demonstrative show “Aloukik noy, Loukik”.

You are invited to attend the function and make it a grand success!

Prabir Ghosh
[G.S. Juktibadi Samiti]

Sumitra Padmanabhan
[President, Juktibadi Samiti]

In the previous article we studied how Upanishadists elevated Guru Krishna to the position of Lord of beings in order to protect their revolution and to reform corrupt Brahmins and Kshatriyas. In this article we will study the last stage of the Upanishadic revolution and how, shortly thereafter, the Gita became the battlefield on which Brahmins on one side and the Upanishadists and Bhagavathas on the other fought a great Sectarian War for the Soul of Sanatana Dharma (11:18). The story of that sectarian war, hidden in plain sight from the public thus far, is revealed in this article for the very first time in the history of the Bhagavad Gita. But first, let us briefly review the final stage of the Upanishadic revolution. Read the full story

(Note: This article is an update on this story that we reported on a few days ago. Briefly, A 7-year old girl from the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh is being hailed by Buddhist leaders as the next reincarnation of a Buddhist Goddess. Rationalist groups led by a group of dedicated activists including Babu Gogineni, International Director of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, have been protesting this abuse of the rights of children in the name of religion.)

A number of us approached the State Human Rights Commission and the Judge ordered for an inquiry into the antecedents of those behind the child and the parentage of the child. Meanwhile, the Commission ordered that police be posted to accompany the so-called caretakers. The case is at a crucial stage now.

The following are the entire contents of the petition presented to the State Human Rights Commission. Read the full story

A pandemic is something to be welcomed in our country, for those with vested interests. Perpetrators of all kinds of superstitions have a field day. Added to that hoarders of things starting from masks (most of them totally useless) to manufacturers of drugs and medicines (effective or not) are out to make profits. In India where bearded saffron wearing gurus are considered to be very epitomes of wisdom- worldly as well as otherwise pronounce cures and preventives for diseases whose names also cannot be pronounced by them. Added to this a government whose spokespersons do not have the spine to commit themselves on claims of such including the proponents of so called alternative systems of medicine add to the confusion. Read the full story