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U.S. Evangelist Held for Violating Visa Norms
(The Hindu, October 15, 2011) William Lee, the U.S.-based evangelist, who went into hiding after police spotted him violating visa norms by addressing a gospel convention in the city on Wednesday, was arrested and produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-I here on Saturday. He was remanded in judicial custody till October 18. Mr.…
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Communal Violence (Prevention) Bill
Ram Puniyani In a recently held meeting of the National Integration Council, in September 2011, the discussion on The Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and Reparation) Bill 2011 was on the top of the agenda. While the leaders of opposition of both the houses of parliament, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, came…
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Delhi University scraps Ramanujan’s essay on Ramayana
Under protest from Hindutva fanatics, the top academic body of the Delhi University has decided to withdraw an essay by eminent scholar A K Ramanujan on the Ramayana. We reproduce two news reports on this retrograde steps of the university. Deccan Herald (October 15, 2011) Delhi University’s top academic body has decided to withdraw from…
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Philosophy Is Dead: Long Live Science
Innaiah Narisetti In their latest book, The Grand Design, Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow declare positively that philosophy is dead. Alarming to philosophy lovers, of course. During 1940s, M.N. Roy, the humanist philosopher, warned that unless philosophy took into consideration the philosophical consequences of modern science, it would not survive. That is exactly the reason…
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Sufi Islamic Sect Warns Against Hardline Wahabi Extremism
The All-India Ulama & Mashaikh Board (AIUMB), a Sufi Islamic branch claiming to represent 80 per cent of Indian Sunni Muslims, has come out strongly against hardline Wahabism, holding the ideology responsible for radicalisation of young Indian Muslims. The AIUMB counts itself among the significant Sufi Khanquahs in India, among them Ajmer Shareef and Dargah…
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Faith versus Universal Compassion – Part I
Exploring the gulf between recited ideals and lived reality, this reflective essay examines the nature of religious belief and uncritical faith. Contrasting blind dogma with rational self-introspection, the author argues that true wisdom requires questioning inherited conditioning, rejecting supernatural crutches, and embracing genuine humanism over metaphysical abstractions.
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A Landmark Judgement
Ramesh Nagaragere This commentary on the Judgement delivered by the High Court of Karnataka was published in the October 2010 issue of Indian Skeptic, an ezine now defunct. We upload the essay as the judgement continues to be relevant to the rationalist movement in India. There have been occasions when Indian judiciary has surprised, shocked…
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Karnataka High Court Judgement on Scientific Temper
A landmark judgment by the High Court of Karnataka serves as an incisive judicial endorsement of scientific temper and rational inquiry. In quashing the criminal proceedings against rationalist Hulikal Nataraju, the Court offers a robust defense of free speech, the right to dissent, and the constitutional obligation under Article 51A(h) to challenge harmful superstitions and…
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Science Versus Miracles
B. Premanand Premanand’s popular book, “Science versus Miracles”, has not been available for some time now. Since Premanand himself was the distributor of the books he published and since he did not make any specific arrangement to reprint and distribute the books he brought out under Indian Skeptic logo, after his death there was noone…
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Don’t Be Trapped By Dogma…
Steve Jobs (Text of the speech delivered by Steve Jobs at Stanford University on June 12, 2005. Steve Jobs passed away on October 5, 2011) I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told,…
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Institution of Engineers Peddles Astrology to Improve Productivity!
When the Bangalore Chapter of the Institution of Engineers hosted a lecture on astrology to boost productivity, P. L. Rao, an engineer and member of Bangalore Vicharavadi Sangham, protested against promoting pseudoscience. Highlighting the constitutional duty to foster a scientific temper, this article exposes the compromise of scientific principles within a premier engineering body.
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Casteism in God’s Own Country
Carvaka Devaswom Membership Open To All Castes: Court The Thrissur Principal Munsiff Court on Tuesday issued an order stating that members of all castes of the Hindu community are eligible to be members of the managing committee and general body of the Thiruvambady Devaswom. Till now, membership to these bodies of the Thiruvambady Devaswom was…
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Petition against Puja in Government Offices
Carvaka Notice on Petition against Puja in Government Offices The Madras High Court on Tuesday ordered notice to the State government on a writ petition seeking a direction to authorities not to permit Ayudha Puja celebrations in government offices. In the petition, filed through counsel S. Doraisamy and V. Elangovan, petitioner T.S. Mani, president of…
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Why I Am A Humanist?
Innaiah Narisetti During my childhood I was exposed only to religious custom, traditions and beliefs. This was between 1937-1950. When I entered college at Guntur town in Andhra, India, I come across two persons who influenced me. One is Yelavarthi Rosaiah, my teacher in English at Andhra Christian college, Guntur and another Avula Gopala Krishna…
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Atheist Varsity in Vijayawada
We reproduce a report from The Hindu (27 September 2011) filed by its correspondent from Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh:: The Atheist Centre here will open the country’s first atheism university and research centre, coinciding with the centenary celebrations of social activist Saraswathi Gora on Wednesday. The centre had been promoting a casteless society with a scientific…
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September 30 – International Blasphemy Rights Day!
Founded in 2009 by the Center for Inquiry, International Blasphemy Rights Day seeks to establish September 30 as an International Day to promote the right to criticize (lampooning not excluded!) religion without inviting reprisals from religious bigots and governments. Blasphemy laws the world over (that is, wherever the laws exist) have been used to suppress…
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Why I Am An Atheist
Ramesh Nagaragere Like any child born into a middle class, upper caste family in India I was also part of the traditional ways of thinking and living, but with a touch of liberalism. I was initiated to be a dwija (twice born) at a very young age as it happens in the case of most…
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Gujarat’s Wounds: Can Fasting Bring Harmony?
Ram Puniyani Life is full of strange paradoxes. Narendra Modi undertook fast for three days for Sadbhavna (Harmony), to mark complete peace, unity and harmony (Sept 2011). This came in the backdrop of the Supreme Court verdict which has asked the trial court to examine all the evidence and amicus curie’s report so that his…
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Is there a communal angle to Anna Hazare Upsurge?
Ram Puniyani The nation heaved a sigh of relief when Anna Hazare broke his fast (August 2011). The breaking of the fast with coconut water offered by a dalit and a Muslim girl was an attempt to project as if Anna’s upsurge represents all the sections of society and is not just having a narrow…
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….and one from the followers of Baba Ramdev!
On June 7, 2011, soon after Baba Ramdev’s ‘fast unto death’ was disrupted by the Delhi Police, I received a similarly absurd mail as the one I mentioned in my last blog. LOKPAL BILL : JUST A MISS CALL AWAY +912261550789 Govt. of India put a condition that 25 CRORES of people support is needed…
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Irrationality of Anna’s Camp Followers
Carvaka One of the most distressing aspects of the ongoing anti-corruption movement in India is the absolute lack of skepticism among a significant section of the camp followers of Anna Hazare (and, is there any need to say, among the followers of the contortionist Baba Ramdev). In their effort to get others in their bandwagon,…
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Anna Upsurge and the Social Movements
Ram Puniyani Anna Hazare’s second fast (August 2011) in Delhi, demanding the acceptance of his teams’ draft for Janlokpal bill has raised many different debates about the nature of this upsurge and how the social action groups, engaged in the process of struggle for Human rights of different sections of society, should relate to such…
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Atheists and Agnostics of Pakistan
Atheists and Agnostics of Pakistan have recently started a website to, we quote from their website, “promote secular causes and the separation of religion and state. We advocate the rights of women and minorities, as well as secular humanist values and free speech. PAA is about rational thought, compassion, science, freedom and education. Above all,…