I want my nation to live up to its Constitution. I want a state separated from religion; I want politics to be independent of it and I want it to become a truly secular republic. I do not want an all-pervading state affording equal ‘respect’ and space for all religions. The term secularism has been distorted to include all religions as a pathway to a secular god. Let me repeat, that there can be no such entity because each religion has its own concept of divinity and my country is also the birthplace of two religions, which have no foundation in a god! While we speak of ‘culture’ with reverence I see it more as a matter of convenience. Culture has to be kept outside the purview of religion. I would want a religion-free look at architecture, sculpture, music, drama and the performing arts.

I want my country to be free of exploitation – both from multinational companies as well as from the so-called swadeshi ones. The former is associated with alleged modernism while the latter by nationalism – both of which are fads. The former brings with it, the Colas and the ‘burger culture’ while the latter extols the virtue of swadeshi and organic. But, both of them are two sides of the same coin and are both supported by the state. The occasional noises made are just for public consumption. In fact, they feed on each other; when one produces Coca-Cola, the other produces a gaumutra variant of the same! When the latter makes a swadeshi concoction like chyavanprash, allegedly a panacea, the former comes up with it’s own variant. In short, both of them take the consumer for a ride with tall claims. I want my fellow citizens to be free of this exploitation.

I want a nation where people have the freedom to enter into relationships with mutual consent regardless of religion, caste, language or gender. Now that the Supreme Court has struck down  Section 377 of the IPC, citizens have the right to love regardless of their sexuality. I want a common civil code, not a Manuvadi one. I want a civil code that accords equal rights to all citizens without giving any preference to the personal laws of any religion or customary practices. I want simpler laws for pair bond formations as well as for getting out of them.

I want my country to allow people the right to choose their own diet. In a country where more than three fourths of the population is not vegetarian I would like to have the right to consume the food of my choice. I want to be free to be able to eat my eggs, fish, mutton or even beef when I want to. Just as I would not force a vegetarian to eat a piece of meat or fish, I would not like a vegetarian to dictate my dietary choices either.

I want the best available medical care for myself, my family as well as for all my fellow citizens. I want adequate psychiatric facilities so that such patients will not have to be taken to sorcerers for exorcism or magical cure. I want an anti-superstition and inhuman practices banning act for the entire nation as has been enacted in Maharashtra and Karnataka in order to prevent such exploitation.

I want freedom of the press and not a biased, purchased media who are puppets in the hands of the ruling classes and the exploiters. I want the media to be accountable for what they publish and give equal opportunities to both sides. I want the media to be free of the clutches of the moneybags who dictate editorial policy and do not tolerate opposing points of view. I want the freedom to debate, criticize and question. Like the Supreme Court has struck down 377, I want them to abolish Section 295A, i.e. the blasphemy laws.

What are the things that I do not want? I do not want barriers among my fellow citizens in the name of caste, religion, language, ethnic origin, gender or sexual orientation. I do not want a nation where people are lynched for their dietary preferences, dress, belief in a religion or the lack of belief in one. I do not want a nation where one religion is given preference over others in the name of tradition, culture or mythology disguised as history. I do not want a theocratic state with sarkari gurus dictating policy in all matters merely because they have credited themselves with the wisdom to do so! The same applies to the mullahs, padres, jain munis and bhikshus too! Let them confine themselves to spiritual matters and preach to their followers as much as they want but not to the average citizen.

I do not want my country to substitute science and history with mythology. While the former demand evidence, mythology is simply a product of fertile imagination. I do not want my country to worship Spiderman, Superman or such beings from the literature of yore. I do not want exploitation of children, women, the so-called lower castes or any other human eing. There is only one class of citizens in this country and I do not want a privileged class or a section of society that has been relegated to the position of second-class citizens.  I do not want my children to be exploited in any way. I do not want discrimination in health or educational services. I do not want a state in which the common man is sent for medical treatment in AYUSH while the rulers and the affluent classes get the best modern, scientific and evidence based medicine.
To put it very concisely let my nation be a civilized, secular, exploitation-free society where all can flourish and no one is discriminated against.

Narendra Nayak is the founder and Secretary of Dakshina Kannada Rationalist Association, and the current President of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Association.

Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum
 

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As rationalists, we are long used to attacks from religious fundamentalists of all tinges, trades and callings! We were labelled as anti-Christians when we opposed the evangelical healers; anti-Muslims when we criticised people like Zakir Naik; and now the Hindutva brigade has set their evil eyes upon us. Be it the vicious trolling on web sites, physical attacks or murders,  there seems to be a diabolic method in this campaign of hate and contempt! For several years now, I have been on the alleged ‘hit list’ of such forces. Once I was joking with K.S.Bhagwan, who was allegedly on top of their hit list, that they would have to get him and five others before they could come for me since I was ranked 7 in the hit list. Bhagwan retorted and asked how I could be so sure that these people were noble enough to even follow the list! This was years ago,  the hate campaigns have only become more and more vicious ever since. Last month, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) for the Gauri Lankesh murder investigation submitted a list of people for whom security has to be provided and I was among the top four.

While I do not regret anything that I have said or not said, I do feel that some incidents need to be narrated. Last year, when I was on a jatha from Mangalore to North Karnataka, I got a call from a leading Kannada asking me to come to their studio for a panel discussion. I told them that I was not in Mangalore, so they arranged for my broadcast from Shivamogga, where I was to halt for the night. When the show started, the anchor grandly announced that he had decided to go on air despite it being a Sunday, due to a major incident needed to be discussed.I was wondering what this catastrophe could be,  when the anchor said that the then Chief minister Siddharamiaha had gone to the Dharmasthala Manjunatha temple after eating fish. While the topic for the panel discussion was bizarre in itself,  I soon realised that it was a ploy to get to me since the show started with me instead of Siddharamiaha! The anchor asked me to be grateful to the Hindus for letting me stay in India despite  being an atheist. I asked who made him the spokesman of the Hindu community and whether it was a self-appointed, elected post or had he been given the GPA by the Hindu community. I also reminded him that I was a citizen of India— a secular nation which came into existence through a constitution— and not a Hindu rashtra, to which he asked me to go to Saudi Arabia and proclaim that I am an atheist.  I asked him to go there instead and do a puja, which effectively shut him up. While this is just an example of the various discriminatory exchanges that we face every day, it reflects on the attitudes of those who feel that one’s freedom of expression should be guided by their sentiments.

This is also something that we we are increasingly seeing in the media as well. While there are extremists in other religions as well, it is the Hindutva brigade of the so-called majority religion, which is becoming a greater threat. They seem to have the patronage of the state since the ruling dispensation at the center tacitly encourages them and turns a blind eye to the menace they create.  There are people who demand shariat laws, there are Khap panchayats encouraged by local elected representatives who are seen as vote banks. 

At the receiving end of these threats however, are people like us who profess rational thinking and vocal expression. Many raised voices might have been silenced, but those that aren’t, are still fighting the battle. SIT’s recent investigations into the Gauri Lankesh murder unravelled a very chilling plot. The conspirators had amassed funds to eliminate the voices of reason and there was a long list of people who had been marked. The same team had also written to the Home department demanding enhanced security for me, Girish Karnad, K.S.Bhagwan, and Veerabhadra Chennamalla Swami of the Nidumamidi math.  Strangely enough, all four of us are Hindus going by their own definition of the same! These forces believe that we have been the most effective in countering their vicious propaganda of lies and manipulations; therefore they try to discredit us through their brazen lies and label us as naxalites and foreign funded. A so called Yogi Ashwini made the same allegation in a panel discussion that was held a few days ago. All this to suppress the voices of reason, not to forget their good old habit of tampering photographs and videos to spread lies.

Hundreds of lives have been lost courtesy to such propagandas. Almost thirty people died last month because of rumours of child lifting spread through various social media platforms. As the next general elections are approaching, the voices are becoming shriller, the propaganda more vicious, and efforts more concerted. The ruling party’s hollow promises are being called out and facing failures on all fronts, they seem to be getting more and more desperate. So, now the card to be played seems to be that of Hinduism in danger. Even though there are credible voices of reason which effectively counters their false propaganda and expose their lies within their own community, they are trying to silence us. Since threats do not work, they are now resorting to permanently silence these voices through a dedicated group of trained murderers.

While they might have succeeded in silencing some of the voices, there is no dearth of activists who have refused to be cowed down and will fight against these forces to make sure that the voices of reason are heard. 

Narendra Nayak is a notable rationalist from Mangalore. He is the president of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations, and the founder-secretary of the Dakshina Kannada Rationalist Association. He tours the country conducting workshops to promote scientific temper and showing people how to debunk godmen and frauds.

First Published on Indian Cultural Forum

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Photo Courtesy: The News Minute
 
Karnataka is the second state to think of passing a law to curb some of the most dangerous and anti-human practices related to irrational beliefs. Having worked in the field to eradicate superstitions over the past four decades in Karnataka, it is time for me to put down a few opinions on this proposed law. The Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations, of which I am the president, has been demanding a law to separate religion from politics, a common civil code, and laws to protect the people from the machinations of those who claim to possess, or control, supernatural powers.

The demand for such an Act at the state level was first put forward by the Maharashtra Andha Sharddha Nirmulan Samithi (MANS), and Dr Narendra Dhabolkar worked for a long time to get it passed in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. But it got blocked in the legislative council by those with vested interests. For several years, MANS worked hard to make amendments that would make it acceptable to all. But despite these compromises, the Act was still not passed. Whenever I met Dhabolkar, I would ask him about it and the reply would be that more compromises were required. We have every reason to believe that it was this attempt to push the Act that resulted in Dabholkar’s assassination. After he was sacrificed, the Bill was passed. This was very much a watered down and weak version of what Dabholkar intended; but it was accepted because something would be better than no such law at all.

Following the protests against Dabholkar’s murder, we had proposed that such legislation should be enacted for Karnataka too, as our problems were similar. The legislation would be a step to eradicate superstitions from a deeply religious society like ours, where exploitation of the gullible is age-old. The work involved went on; we found that even the then Chief Minister of Karnataka, Yeddyyurappa, was not free from superstition. 

Our efforts were supported by a good number of progressive thinkers, organisations and even some of the progressive mutts. Though it seemed strange that religious institutions would support such legislation, some of them did, and they even took the initiative to bring together the various supporters. This was followed by two draft bills: one by the National School of Law at Bengaluru and another by the State Law University at Dharwad. These were consolidated and put forward for public discussion. An attempt was made to address a number of superstitions such as astrology, vaastu and palmistry. At the same time, a few issues such as made snana (rolling over the leaves on which brahmins have eaten), pankti bheda (caste-based places for serving meals) were brought in. This was followed by great opposition from the Hindutva groups. They claimed this was an anti-Hindu law; they tried to scare people by saying that a tilak or a bindi would be considered punishable under the law, and so would a tulsi plant! The Lok Sabha elections were due at the time; the government developed cold feet; and the bill was put in cold storage.

Later on, when M M Kalburgi was assassinated, the agitation for the legislation began again, this time with the demand that the Act be named after him. A number of meetings were held, including one at Freedom Park at Bengaluru which was attended by two ministers of the Karnataka government. I remember questioning them about when the draft bill would be made into a law. It had happened in Maharashtra after Dhabolkar was murdered. In Karnataka Kalburgi had been killed. I asked them: How many more of us do you want to sacrifice before this legislation is enacted?” I feel sorry now that my words were prophetic: the cabinet has now approved the Bill after the ghastly murder of Gauri Lankesh, one of the first to ask for the passing of the Bill. It is ironic that she is not here to see the success of her efforts.

In a land where religion takes precedence over so much else, this Bill seems to bring a glimmer of hope. The Bill plans to tackle Bhanamathi — allegedly a type of black magic practised in Hyderabad. But though I have been campaigning against it for more than two decades, I am yet to see anyone who practises it. We see only the victims. The fear of this “magic” is such that people do not even mouth the word. One good feature of the Bill is that it seeks to address indignities against women such as ostracisation, segregation during menstruation and pregnancy, or parading them naked in the name of worship. There is, however, the possibility that if such practices are claimed as part of religious tradition, they may be exempted. Astrology and vaastu, not scientific by any stretch of the most fertile imagination, are exempt. The government itself encourages non-science in the name of traditional beliefs without the need for evidence. For example, homeopathy, which is being encouraged, would really qualify as a superstition since there is no evidence of its efficacy. Suicide by starvation (the Jain practice of sallekhana or santara) is exempt. Again, the propagation of so called miracles of dead people would not be an offence. For example, it would not be an offence to claim that the dead Puttaparthi godman is producing things from thin air; or that Jesus Christ converted water into wine. Again, circumcision and female genital mutilation would not be offences as they are “accepted” religious practices.

Given all these inadequacies and loopholes, much work remains. That a vigilance officer will monitor the provisions of the law, and the government will seek to identify violations appears to be a welcome move. But how it works remains to be seen. The punishment also appears modest — imprisonment for not less than a year and a fine of Rs. 5000.
At the same time, one central point remains for discussion. Can superstitions be eradicated by legislation? My own answer is a vehement No, because no legislation can substitute for education.

What would be a better solution to the problems of superstitions in a country like ours? The answer would be education – but in the true sense of the word, and not the literacy passed off as education today. Teaching the younger generation to think rationally, and question received wisdom before accepting it would be the best solution. We have engineers, doctors, lawyers and scientists who are literate, or rather knowledgeable in their own subjects, but who do not think rationally about what they encounter in the other aspects of their lives. We have astronomers fasting during eclipses, doctors who believe that the application of holy ash will cure disease or that the blessings of a holy man are necessary for a successful surgery.

Article 51 of the Constitution of India defines the duties of the citizen. One such duty is to develop scientific temper, the spirit of enquiry and humanism. The implementation of this duty should be our real aim. We must work for this constitutional duty of every citizen prevailing over minor legislations such as the Karnataka Prevention and Eradication of Inhuman Evil Practices and Black Magic Bill, 2017.
 

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Narendra Nayak is a notable rationalist from Mangalore. He is the president of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations, and the founder-secretary of the Dakshina Kannada Rationalist Association. He tours the country conducting workshops to promote scientific temper and showing people how to debunk godmen and frauds.

Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum

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