In these scarring last months of Hindutvas blood-blazed march in a notional constitutional democracy, Indians are finding there is tiny space in their public consciousness for one of the most marginal of their minorities if we view them as an ideology, an intellectual persuasion, a way of being: I am speaking of Indias multifarious non-believers, atheists and agnostics.
In the movement against the CAA-NRC-NPR, the agitations against the violence at Jamia Milia Islamia, Jawaharlal Nehru University and north-east Delhi, there has been a spectrum-crossing conjoining of Muslims, Sikhs, the Bhim Army, Christians, people of many and no genders and some non-believers under one ark. Herein, the ragtag of non-believers has made a quiet re-entry into public life on a livewire issue. But, some unpacking first.
As Hindutva advanced in this era, the atheists became lightning rods for fanatics. They were organized opponents of religious extremism but weak on wherewithal. In societies like ours, such folk dont get sustained mass support (lest the whatabouters rise out of the swamp and flog this essayist with the whip of partisanship, let me add the customary caveat: India isnt alone in embattling religious extremism. Pakistani and Bangladeshi dissenters have been slayed for blasphemy. Sri Lankans, including monks, who rebuked Buddhist extremists have been attacked).
In the 2010s, under Congress state governments, individuals like Narendra Dabholkar, MM Kalburgi, Govind Pansare and Gauri Lankesh were threatened and then assassinated. Collectively, its been long since these murders took place. There are updates in the press. But if we seek out tangible justice, theres been little headway in the investigations yet. The information trickles and the case transfers from one agency to another. One wonders if the Establishment has left these in a vacuum.
In a way, their killings signpost the social acceptance of religious violence in this era. These people were at the frontline of the fight in the hinterland against obscurantism, superstition, fanaticism, false history. In the 2010s, the attacks on the rationalists paralleled those against Muslims and caste minorities: These processes have been ongoing for long. In this setting, and as we have seen till now, all our fault-lines have dreadfully relapsed. Delhi and Uttar Pradesh look like war zones. But theres an unarticulated upshot.
This essayist finds it numbing that the many gurus, pontiffs, mahants and leaders of the major temples, sects and denominations within Hinduism havent said much over the bloodshed or the militarisation of their faith (only Narendra Modis hosts at Belur Math were irate when he turned a non-political aegis into one about citizenship). Does their collective silence show their political bent? In contrast, some non-Hindu leaders of other faiths have stepped in to engage, converse, argue with the government and its votaries.
Lynch mobs, cow vigilantes, outsider rioters in Delhi: Have we ever seen such an extrajudicial panoply? Chants of greeting as war cries; an amiable god, remobilized on car trunks, as a bellicose warrior. If one is a true imbiber of religious values, how can such violations be vindicated? Finger-pointing at the weaponizing of other religions cant be their justification. Is mimicry the only pushback?
Hinduism is rich in irreligion. Sramana, Charvaka and Nastika are schools of thought that venerate atheism, reason. For long, these have been muted, kept away from the public eye. They beg to be recalled, remade, re-presented. The atheists have a great chance to steer a set of Indians (not just Hindus) who may be born into a religion but are put off by religiosity or its extremists.
For this to happen, they will need to face up to their past. If they are to pitch their world view, they will be probed on how the Age of Reason led to imperial colonialism; how agrarian collectivisation led to the mass killings under Stalin; or Maos Cultural Revolution; or the sins of the Left in West Bengal or Kerala. They will have to be honest; and still hold their own.
Societies like ours, overdosed on religions, nary become irreligious overnight. Some sections, parts, regions might, but not en masse. Organized religion is revered, since the subcontinents nation-states fail to provide the basics of human life for the masses so often. Thus, a middle path to non-belief is salutary. The onus for this is on the atheists. They ought to fight off their alienation from the body politic of India and reinstate it as a legitimate way of being.
Communist Cuba, now sending aid to hyper-religious Italy to fight Covid-19, made that switch. The Castros, reared in an orthodox society, fought against Catholicism while in power, but made peace with the Vatican. Contemporary subcontinental society craves for this balance, where it may keep its faiths but on many public matters accord primacy to irreligious reason.
The rest is here:
Rousing the Atheists - Deccan Herald
- Chapel Hill police: Parking dispute may have led to triple shooting [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Chapel Hill killings shine light on particular tensions between Islam and atheism [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism and obesity - Main Page - Conservapedia [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Demographics of atheism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism - Main Page - Conservapedia [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- science against atheism - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Conversations Regarding Atheism & Theism - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- My Journey to Atheism - Part 5: Faith in God as an Adult - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Russell Brand Rips Stephen Fry's Atheism - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Book about Jaclyn Glenn @jaclynglenn #freespeech #atheism #freethought - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Response to Atheism Episode 6 - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Atheist Analysis S04 E07: Interview With Peter Boghossian/ Street Epistemology /Atheism Evangelism - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism Unleashed Presents.. 5 Stupid Questions... - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Follow-up to "Defining Atheism" - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism Implodes Hard - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- God, Science & the Big Questions: Leading Christian Thinkers Respond to the New Atheism - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Does Atheism Lead To A Bad Society? - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism vs India Revisited 9 - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Robert Richert 'Communicating Atheism' - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- John Lennox exposes Peter Atkins and the truth of his Atheism - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- My Testimony - from Atheism to Biblical Christian - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- How to Convert a Theist to Atheism - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Materialism begets atheism removing inherent spiritualistic realization *Nouman Ali Khan* - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Creation,Evolution, Christianity and Atheism - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism, World Religions 1 - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- How I Got Saved From Evolution/Atheism To Christ - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism - Why Atheists Are Atheists - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism Not Belief - War on Easter - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- A Christian defines Atheism - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Atheist Dan Barker proves Atheism is madness - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- St. Athanasius & Why Atheism in on the Rise - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- LIVE Multi-Topic Hangout. Atheism, Christianity, My Personal Life With Sarah - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- The Deceit Of Atheism - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism-is-Unstoppable-2: What a moronic video! - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Cool People in Heaven Song #freespeech #atheism - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism-is-Unstoppable-2 is a douche. - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism - Man's Biggest Delusion - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism Unleashed Presents.. The Animated Atheist. - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism is Irrational - Crazy Atheists Compilation - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Response to Atheism Episode 5 - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Neil deGrasse Tyson Talk Science Religion Morality and atheism. - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Is Atheism of the Devil? - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Is Atheism a "Man Thing"? - The Stats (+ muslims) - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Fr. Barron on Atheism and Philosophy - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2015]
- Part 1 Election: Jacob and Esau; Atheism & Agnosticism Debunked - Video [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2015]
- A Short Talk About Christianity VS Atheism - Video [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2015]
- The Rules Of Atheism - Video [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2015]
- A few current events relevant to atheism - Video [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2015]
- Finish Drive Into City Of Lancaster, PA 2/11/15, Atheism Is An Ideology - Video [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2015]
- 'The Atheist Experience' Responds To Me - Video [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2015]
- Atheist Psychologist Admits Atheism is Unscientific - Video [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2015]
- Understanding Atheism | Session 1 | Asadullah Ali - Video [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2015]
- Atheism: No Good, No Evil, No Hope | Big Objections | Andrew Wilson - Video [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2015]
- Atheism vs India Revisited 9a - Video [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2015]
- Atheism is... - Video [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2015]
- Hamza Tzortzis vs Lawrence Krauss - Islam or Atheism which one makes more sense? The Big Debate - Video [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2015]
- Stupid Anti-Vaxxers - Eric Hovid on How Atheism Causes Suicide - Stupid Ads - DPP #83 - Video [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2015]
- Theism vs Atheism with Christjahn Beck - Video [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2015]
- Session 1|| Understanding Atheism|| Asadullah Ali - Video [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2015]
- New Atheism and a Meaningless Universe | William Lane Craig, PhD - Video [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2015]
- Richard Dawkins slams video that claims to 'destroy atheism' [Last Updated On: February 16th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 16th, 2015]
- Atheism - New World Encyclopedia - Info:Main Page - New ... [Last Updated On: February 16th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 16th, 2015]
- Does Atheism Exist? - Video [Last Updated On: February 16th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 16th, 2015]
- Understanding Atheism | Session 5 | Asadullah Ali - Video [Last Updated On: February 16th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 16th, 2015]
- Understanding Atheism | Session 3 | Asadullah Ali - Video [Last Updated On: February 16th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 16th, 2015]
- Meeting of the Minds: Eve Reele - Moderate vs. Extreme Atheism 2/3/15 - Video [Last Updated On: February 16th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 16th, 2015]
- Understanding Atheism | Session 2 | Asadullah Ali - Video [Last Updated On: February 16th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 16th, 2015]
- Don't blame Atheism. - Video [Last Updated On: February 17th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 17th, 2015]
- Bibles atheism moms why me? - Video [Last Updated On: February 17th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 17th, 2015]
- A C Grayling - Atheism, Theism and Proof - Video [Last Updated On: February 17th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 17th, 2015]
- 2 reasons why it's a bad week to be an atheist [Last Updated On: February 18th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 18th, 2015]
- North Carolina shootings do not represent Atheism [Last Updated On: February 18th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 18th, 2015]
- Godless Voices Podcast 2/10/2015: Atheism is a Suicide Risk - Video [Last Updated On: February 18th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 18th, 2015]
- Religious Atheism - Video [Last Updated On: February 19th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 19th, 2015]
- Session 3|| Understanding Atheism|| Asadullah Ali - Video [Last Updated On: February 19th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 19th, 2015]
- Muslims targeted in the US [Last Updated On: February 20th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 20th, 2015]
- Atheism can't CAUSE anything - Video [Last Updated On: February 20th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 20th, 2015]
- Atheism is a Terrible Motivator - Video [Last Updated On: February 20th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 20th, 2015]
- Oh No Is Atheism Destroyed - Video [Last Updated On: February 21st, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 21st, 2015]