WHY I AM NOT A MUSLIM? By IBN WARRAQ ASCIENTIFIC AND ANALYTICAL REVIEW - Innaiag Narisetti

“T he ability to listen to a story,” said the
renowned Telugu litterateure Rachakonda

Vishwanatha Shastri, “is as important as the genius for writing one.” Similarly, if writing a book is one dimension of the effort, publishing is another. These days, it often takes courage to publish a controversial book. In the wake of the persecution of Salman Rushdie and the Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, many publishers have become reluctant to bring out controversial books. They are particularly wary of publishing anything that is critical of Muslims, Prophet Muhammad, the Koran or Islamic laws. In the circumstances, the courage shown by Prometheus Books of U.S.A. in bringing out Ibn Warraq’s Why I am Not a Muslim is praiseworthy.

The author who calls himself Ibn Warraq (not his real name) was born into a Muslim family, but became a severe critic of Islam. There are many works critical of Islam written by non-Muslims. These are routinely ignored by most Muslims. But when such a book - as the one under review - authored by one of their own faith appears, the reaction is swift and inhuman, and may even mean death for the author. The late Ayotollah Khomeini, the ‘spiritual leader’ of Islam issued a fatwa of death sentence against Salman Rushdie, the author of The Satanic Verses. After the publication of his book Lajja (‘Shame’) Taslima Nasreen of Bangladesh was forced to leave the country and live in exile in Sweden. These are only two of the best known cases of authors persecuted in the name of Islam. And yet, all these countries are signatories to the Declaration of Human Rights!

The book under review, Ibn Warraq’s Why I am Not a Muslim is a work of great depth, based on intensive study and analysis of a large number of scholarly works on Islam. After this research (and his own experience), the author has declared himself unable to continue as a Muslim. His willingness to share his findings and views on this highly combustible topic bears testimony to his extraordinary courage.

Sources: facts and fiction

When Bertrand Russell published his Why I am Not a Christian, it was wholeheartedly welcomed by adherents of other faiths. Ibn Warraq makes the insightful observation that if Allah were to be substituted for Jesus in Russell’s work, it would still be substantially on the mark. The same in fact may apply to all religions. Ramendra, Rationalist from Bihar has written a book called Why I am Not a Hindu which may be said to be in the same vein as the books of Russell and Ibn Warraq.2

In his book of 17 chapters, Ibn Warraq has examined every aspect of Islam - both its doctrine and its application. The book opens with the Rushdie affair. The details are well known: in February 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran issued a fatwa (religious decree) of death sentence against Salman Rushdie for his Satanic Verses. As Ibn Warraq notes, almost as reprehensible was the conduct of some Western liberals some of whom even justified Khomeini’s fatwa; no less a person than the French author Michel Foucault welcomed it. One can only speculate as to the causes: greed for favours, or fear perhaps.3

At a doctrinal level Christianity is as dogmatic as Islam. But as Ibn Warraq has noted, to some extent at least, Christians have begun to take notice of academic progress and the results of modern science and research, something which Muslims have yet to do. He has also observed that the Koran does not tolerate any academic examination of its claims. (Progress among ‘Christians’ is due to the rise of secular-humanism in the West, and not due to any inherent tolerance of dissent or the growth of scientific spirit within Christianity.)

The second chapter discusses at length the origins of Islam and also the influence of Christian and Jewish source books from which the Koran has heavily borrowed. The author points out that though supposedly opposed to idolatry, Muslims have installed a Black Stone at Kaaba, their holiest shrine and worship it. (Astrophysicist Carl Sagan and others have identified it as a meteorite. Before Islam, Kaaba seems to have been known to the Hindus of India as a place of pilgrimage.) According to Ibn Warraq, the choice of the spot of Kaaba was in all probability due to its proximity to the well of Zam Zam - a precious water source on the caravan route that passed through Mecca on its way to Yemen and Syria.
The third chapter examines the problems associated with the sources of Islam. It shows that many of the traditional beliefs about the Koran have little or no historical basis.

The fourth chapter takes a critical look at the message and teachings of Muhammad. The author highlights the fact that many who have criticized the Prophet were not necessarily non-believers, but sincere scholars who nonetheless stated simply as facts many things that the orthodox may find unpalatable. During the first period in Mecca, Muhammad appears to have been religiously motivated, sincerely seeking truth. His attitude seems to have undergone a sea change in subsequent years as he gained in power and influence.

The fifth chapter presents a critical overview of the Koran. For Muslims, the Koran is holy, wholly God-given, and of which every word is true to the letter. The author demonstrates that this has no basis in reality. On the other hand, the Koran is full of inconsistencies, with many contradictions, later textual additions, and variant readings. All this is supported with the help of profuse examples.

What is particularly telling is the author’s observation that all Islamic countries are signatories to the Declaration of Human Rights, while their sacred book - the Koran - is filled with teachings that grossly violate human rights. In addition, like the Bible, the Koran too rejects the Theory of Evolution and other findings of science.

Islam and the state

The author next brings out the uncompromisingly totalitarian nature of the ‘religion’ of Islam; democracy and Islam are fundamentally incompatible. It is full of “do” and “don’t” injunctions which it uses to regulate the whole of human life from birth to death. It is not just democracy which Islam is opposed to, Islam has no place for secularism. It does not separate religion from polity.4

The Islamic law or Sharia rests on four pillars: the Koran, the Sunna (sayings and traditions of the Prophet), the ljma or the consensus of orthodox scholars, and the Qiyas or reasoning through analogy. But according to the author, the Koran was written down over a period from the 7th to the 9th century AD, appropriating large portions from apocryphal Christian, Zoroastrian and Samaritan traditions. It is filled with countless irrationalities, grammatical errors and self-contradictions - hardly living up to the claim of the infallible word of God.

There are occasional homilies about the need for generosity and kindness towards parents and so forth, but these are greatly outnumbered by its voluminous negative outpourings - of extreme intolerance towards pagans and other nonbelievers, calls to violence and slaughter, gender inequality and other similarly inhuman teachings. The Prophet of Islam expresses his disgust at human reasoning - the enemy of blind faith.

Orthodox Muslim scholars stoutly deny the existence of a priestly order in Islam, but the reality is different. In the name of ulema its priesthood has held on to a monopoly over the interpretation of Islam and has for centuries been a barrier to progress. It is these mullahs who have turned back every attempt at progress, from the spread of rational thinking to the growth of science. The author is uncompromising in his indictment of Sharia; it was drawn up over a thousand years ago and can hardly be used as a panacea for every human situation today. Such obstinacy, he argues, can only retard moral and every other kind of progress.

Human Rights

Muslim countries have signed the Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 while at the same time professing unwavering loyalty to Islam. They also continue to be members of the United Nations. But Islam violates human rights at every step. Men and women are treated as unequal in Islam, and the testimony of a woman in a court of law is worth only half of that of a man.

To begin with, the Declaration of Human Rights does not countenance gender inequality. But Islam restricts the freedom of women in almost every respect; the insistence on the veil (purdah) is only one example of it. For another, Muslim women cannot marry non-Muslims.

The Declaration of Human Rights is also against religious discrimination, but non-Muslims living in Muslim countries have almost no rights - sometimes not even the right to life. Persons belonging to other faiths are forbidden from offering their prayers, building temples and churches, or reciting their sacred texts. Slavery is legal (according to the Koran), and men are allowed to cohabit with any number of concubines.

Torture and degrading punishment are also against human rights, but they are commonplace in Islamic societies. Such savage punishments as public flogging, scores and even hundreds of lashes (in public) for women, amputation of limbs, and stoning to death are freely prescribed.

Human rights imply universal equality as a fundamental principle, but Islamic countries flagrantly violate this principle. For instance, conversion to Islam is permitted and even encouraged, but apostasy - or leaving Islam - is forbidden under pain of death. Islam does not recognize freedom of conscience; in fact, it sees it as a great evil.

The author has provided pages upon pages of testimony showing that human rights have no place in Islam. According to him secularist reform is unavoidable if Muslims are to keep pace with the rest of the world. This means religion and polity must be separated. (But if this happens Islam will collapse. Islam without the power to control and regulate the people is inconceivable.)

Women in Islam

The author devotes a whole chapter to the attitude of Islam towards woman. Islam like Christianity believes that the creation of man came before that of woman. (They both borrowed the idea from Judaism.) It gives precedence to man, and as the author shows with numerous examples, Islam has been savage in its treatment of women. Here are a few examples.

A woman during the menstrual period is not permitted to touch the Koran. She is not allowed to go anywhere near the Kaaba. She can neither pray nor fast. In all this, regarding woman as inferior to man is both axiomatic and mandatory (Koran 2.282). Even in matters of division of property, the daughter is entitled to only half of what a son is assigned. Pursuit of vengeance is also sanctioned in the Koran (Koran 2.178). Muslim jurists have declared that man possesses greater wisdom than woman. The author discusses the dominance of man in sexual mores and also how Muslim women themselves treat other women.

Regarding women as slaves, keeping them strictly confined to the home and treating them as inferiors are best exemplified in the practice of wearing the veil (purdah) by women. It is mandatory, women have no choice in the matter. In some countries Muslim women have discarded the veil, but both Islam and the clergy look down upon such a practice. Also, whenever the clergy manage to gain control of the state - as in Iran - they invariably reverse the trend by re-imposing the veil. The author provides many such instances.

The author has also dealt with the poetic tradition in Islam, and the role of women and wine found therein. Here also there are inconsistencies. In one place Prophet Muhammad refers to wine as of divine origin (Koran 16.69), while he prohibits it elsewhere (5.92). (The Prophet was himself said to enjoy a drink of wine once in a while as do many of his followers, especially in the West.)5

All religions impose certain restrictions in matters of food and drink. Hinduism and Christianity are no exceptions. Islam regards pigs as unclean and has banned pork in any form (again borrowing from Judaism). But Muslims in China consume pork while calling it mutton. Even in the staunchly Islamic Morocco, pork is eaten widely if clandestinely.

Personality of the Prophet

Ibn Warraq devotes a full chapter to the personality of Prophet Muhammad, including positive traits in his character which made him stand out in history. During the Mecca period, his conduct appears to have been marked by sincerity and even nobility. But his personality and attitudes seem to have undergone a radical change during the Medina period. He began to see himself as the infallible Messenger of God and intercessory. (In other words, he became a megalomaniac.)

Muslims hold that there is no salvation for non-Muslims - that is, for those who do not believe that Allah is the Only God and Muhammad is His (Last) Prophet. They also believe it is the sacred duty of Muslims to spread this message to the whole of humanity (by the sword if necessary). The author has convincingly argued that there can be no greater hallucination. Bertrand Russell bears testimony to the untenability of such a stand.

The author has also shown that the growth of fresh ideas and intellectual freedom have suffered grievously because of Prophet Muhammad’s declaration that the Koran is divine in origin, the sole repository of ultimate truth to the exclusion of everything else. (His followers have ensured that this claim is not questioned by anyone concerned about one’s life.)

Summary and warning

Why I am Not A Muslim is not a book of fantasy - or of veiled attack - like Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses. It is a deeply felt intellectual tour de force by a great Muslim scholar whose heart bleeds for the fate of his fellow Muslims, and whose thirst for knowledge has led him on a path of incomparable research and study. Because of the well-known (and widely feared) Muslim proclivity to violence the book had to be brought out by an American humanist publisher rather than any of the major publishing houses. It is doubtful that there exists another work on the subject as scholarly, as detailed or as comprehensive, not to say as courageous.

Looking at the scene in India, the writings of Hamid Dalwai and A.B. Shah have set many people thinking about the nature of Islam. If Ibn Warraq’s book were to be made widely available in India, and Arab world, it may serve to open the eyes of the people further. After placing before us the Koran in its true colours, the author has highlighted the danger of continuing the practice of dinning into the impressionable minds of innocent Muslim children the contents of the 6000 odd Suras making up the Koran, forcing them to commit them to memory to the exclusion of everything else.

Footnotes:

1 This review appeared in the Telugu monthly, MISIMI (edited by Alapati Ravindranath) of April, 1997. The monthly is published from Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh. It has been translated into English by
S. R. Ramaswamy.

2 Here the reviewer appears to be guilty of the common error committed by most intellectuals of equating the scripture of dogmatic creeds like Christianity and Islam with the more flexible Hindu tradition. Unlike the Koran for instance which is a book of authority, Hindu works offer only guidance. They are open also to challenge and reform.

3 Leftist intellectuals in India were not so brazen as Foucault; they only sat in petrified silence.

4 The highest goal of Islam is the installation of a world empire or Caliphate - a theocratic empire ruled according to the rules of Islam. It sees any attempt to separate religion from the state as a great evil.

5 This was before the revelation prohibiting wine was sent by Allah.

Prometheus Books, USA published this book.

WHO ARE ANNA HAZARE AND BABA RAMDEV TO DICTATE TERMS TO GOVERNMENT?

It is a pity that the Union Government of India is crinjing and
extending a red carpet welcome to people like Anna Hazare
and Baba Ramdev, who dare to dictate terms to the Government. Do they really represent the people of India?

In Baba Ramdev’s Trust, assets to the value of more than Rs. 1000 crores are estimated. Has he paid income tax to the Government of India? Now he has come as an avatar to serve India and eradicate corruption. Is it not a crude joke?

The BJP and the RSS are behind the moves of Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev against the UPA Government to discredit it and pave way for the BJP to come to power.

Let the Government first undertake an investigation into how much money and assets Baba Ramdev possesses, how he amazed all these assets and how much of black money is with him.

The cases relating to the complaints about the Trust of Anna Hazare is pending in the court. It is the great blunder of the Congress party in having permitted Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev to enter into the arena of politics.

Who are these Anna Hazare and Ramdev? Are they the people who can write constitution for our country? What is their ‘Locus Standi’?

Only the crocodiles and sharks of black money are crying aloud about corruption and black money. Let the Government first unearth the black money with them.

Unless and until reforms are made in the system of our election, corruption and black money can not be eradicated totally.

A limit has been fixed for the election expenditure of the candidates contesting Parliament and Assembly Seats. But does any candidate give the correct statement of expenditure? Both the person rendering the accounts and the person receiving the accounts knew very well that the account is not true. If the Government is prepared to bring harsh legislations to curb corruption and black money, people are prepared to support such a move.

The Government and the media are responsible for giving wide publicity to Anna Hazare and Ramdev.

The greatest blunder committed by the Union Government was to heed to the request of Anna Hazare to form a committee and to accommodat them as the sole representative of the civility to draft the Lok Pal Bill with 5 union ministers and 5 members proposed by Anna Hazare!

In a Parliamentary democracy, drafting bill is the duty of the government and its officials. How can a private person and persons of his choice be allowed to draft a bill? Are they not extra-constitutional authorities?

The ulterior motive of persons like Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev is to oust the UPA government at the centre even before its tenure. They are acting as the masks of the BJP and RSS.

Baba Ramdev was an ordinary person in 1990 selling Ayurvedic medicines riding bicycle from house to house. He sold medicines purported to cure cancer, give fertility to women, particularly to bear male children.
The disciple of Ramdev says that for admission to join in the Ashram of Baba, ordinary fees of Rs. 11,000, special fees of 21,000 and 51,000 life membership fee Rs.1 lakh and founder member fee Rs. 5 lakh are charged. Baba used to receive one crore rupees to visit the house of any devotee, we are told.

Have proper accounts been maintained for all these income and was income tax paid? What are the enforcement directorate and the Income Tax Department doing without investigating into these transactions?

Characterless people are talking about character. Indisciplined people are speaking about discipline. Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev are coming to the people wearing the mask of the Sang Parivar. The media are promoting them.
Let the Government be cautious with these persons and order investigation in to the affairs of Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare and bring out the truth!

PERIYAR

PERIYAR: THE PERSON AND THE MISSION

- D.D.Bandiste

“To say that there is god you need not be wise. Even a fool could say that there is god. But to deny the existence of god one must be wise and intelligent”. (In there a god? P. 13). “Not only is god created by men but he is created by foolish men”. Such blunt and bold statements can come only from persons like E. V. Ramasamy Naicker called periyar (the Great) by millions of his followers.

Very often he is called Thanthai Periyar meaning Father the great. He has established the identity of the Dravidian people including the Adi-Dravids. According to him, Dravids, now living mostly in the Southern India, were the original inhabitants of this country and the Aryans came from the central Asia. They made the original inhabitants their subordinates.

They introduced the principles of Varna Dharma and Karma, i. e. rebirth in a particular caste according to one’s deeds in the previous birth. Aryans brought with them various superstitions and obnoxious things like belief in the super-natural type of god, soul, heaven and hell, religion with its queer rituals, worships, idolatry, devotion, sacrifice and many other superstitions; they also brought with them the Sanskrit language, the vicious air-tight hierarchical structure of society: the caste-system, fatalism, rebirth, Brahmin-superiority and what not. Periyar condemns all these things as outlandish, irrational and harmful.

All of these must be done away with. In the congregations inspired by Periyar, “no god, there is no god”, and “no religion, no religion” are some of the slogans prominently shouted. Periyar was of the opinion that god and religion are the two instruments in the hands of the Brahmins to suppress and exploit the general masses and keep them ignorant, poor, powerless and helpless. The priestly Brahmins lived a lavish, greedy, gluttonous and parasitical life at the expense of the teeming and toiling millions.

The pre-condition of the masses living a life of self-respect (Periyar’s initial movement established in 1925 was in fact called: Self-respect Movement) is the complete extermination of god and religion. From this experience he came to realize that even Mahatma Gandhi and the then Indian National Congress were the custodians of god and religion. As a result, Periyar made it his mission, later on, to fight the Congress, Gandhi, their ideology and the domination of Hindi language.

Periyar E.V. Ramasamy was born at Erode, Tamil Nadu, in an intermediate caste family in 1879. His father owned a small business and lived comparatively well. Ramasamy did not evince interest in formal education. They stopped sending him to school when he was studying the fifth standard. He started assisting his father in running the family business quite early and was quite successful in this. He did not have to suffer the privations and insults that Dr. B. R. Ambedkar had to suffer. Ramasamy’s family was quite well off; it also commanded a good status in the society. Ramasamy was co-opted on the governing bodies of quite a few public trusts some of them were even the religious trusts. So much so that in his 39th year he was commanding 30 posts in prestigious public bodies. He was married when he was of 19 years. The atmosphere in his (parents) house was orthodox and traditional. Naturally, Ramasamy was also a devout person in the early part of his life. At one time the devotion became so strong that he even left his family and became a sanyasi, and went to Kasi (Varanasi). But he was fed up with what he saw in the holy places and returned home. Thereafter, Ramasamy again started looking after the family-business and taking active interest in the social affairs.

The abject position of the low-caste masses (Sudras and Panchamas) and their social discrimination by the Brahmins were repelling to him. He decided to secure justice for them. Ramasamy joined the Indian National Congress in 1919 and rose to become the general secretary of the Tamil Nadu State Congress Party. As a zealous party worker, on the call of Gandhi, he burnt in public bonfire all the foreign goods he owned. He completely gave up his lucrative money lending business for which he was paying income tax. He even razed down the grove of 500 coconut trees when Gandhi asked people to picket the toddy shops. In response to Gandhi’s call to boycott the law courts he destroyed all the promissory notes worth Rs. 50,000/- held by the family. Periyar was always known as a conscientious worker. He was jailed quite a number of times before independence and unfortunately, even after it. As a sincere Congress worker he too started wearing hand-woven khadi clothes; he remained a teetotaler throughout his life.

But he resigned from the Congress as a protest against the lukewarm attitude of the upper caste Congress office-bearers towards the reservation policy and removing the caste discrimination. Ramasamy found that the social discrimination against the down-trodden masses was carried on by the Brahmins in the name of god and religion. Therefore, in order to secure self-respect and justice for the down-trodden masses abolishing of god and religion was according to Ramasamy, very necessary. This now became the sole concern of Ramasamy. He started in 1925 a general movement to secure self-respect for the Dravid (including Adi-Dravid) people. The remaining fifty years of his life he mobilized the masses of Tamil Nadu towards this end. By his sacrifices and missionary activities, Ramasamy became Thanthai Periyar for the masses of Tamil Nadu (Thanthai = father; Periyar = a great or noble person).

In those days, i.e., in the early part of the 20th century, the caste distinctions and discrimination were obnoxiously stringent. So much so that the untouchables were not allowed to enter temples and at some places they were prohibited to move even on public roads near the temples. People at Vaikom (Kerala) launched in 1924 a satyagraha against such discriminatory practices. Ramasamy joined the struggle and was at the helm of it when it was successful. For a long time Ramasamy was called the hero of Vaikom. The saying that nothing succeeds like success was true even with the Vaikom struggle. The success of the struggle made Ramasamy very popular. Now his campaign to secure self-respect and justice for the Dravid people gathered huge momentum.

Academically speaking, Periyar was not a scholar. But with his keen intellect, and minute observation of the orthodoxy, he got enough material against the theists and the priests to turn the tables against them. Scholarship very often becomes a boring pedantry and obviously, this possibility did not simply arise with Periyar. On the other hand, he was extremely original and lucid. He spoke common man’s language. His wit, logic, commonsense-approach and acid sarcasm accompanied by the new vision and the mission he gave to the people promising them self-respect and justice, held his audience spell-bound for normally three hours at a stretch. Sometimes he even delivered two or three such speeches per day. Naturally he convinced the people easily. And this went on for nearly 50 years. He repeatedly traveled to every nook and corner of Tamil Nadu. That is how he became very very popular and quite successful in his campaign. He was loved, revered and even worshipped. Some more factors contributed to Periyar’s success.

He was absolutely selfless. He has no heirs. Very often people get unduly attached to their children and adopt corrupt practices. With Periyar, the case was just the opposite. Not only did he give up all his personal property to the public cause, he even did the same with the innumerable precious gifts and donations people continuously showered upon him. He had no personal life, no personal ambition. His mission was to secure a place of honour to the Dravid people. Numerous selfless workers thronged around him. To keep himself and his workers away from the lure and corruptions of wealth and power, it was resolved that he and the organization, Dravidar Kazhagam (established in 1944) would not enter politics. All this assured the people of his good intentions. People were mad after him. They were ready to sacrifice themselves for his cause which was, infact, their own upliftment.

He was completely empirical and scientific in his approach. Naturally, the on-going scientific researches were on his side. Any one could see that what Periyar said was true in every day life. People were not required to keep blind faith in what they were being told by him. What he said was verifiable by any one and was getting confirmed by science.

Moreover, along with the spread of intellectual enlightenment, he also launched concrete programmes for the good of the general masses: starting of educational institutions, hospitals, technological institutes, adoption of scientific outlook, rooting out the superstitions and queer customs, abolition of wasteful religious rituals, abolition of caste system, caste distinctions including peculiar caste-names and caste-marks, modernization of the life style, helping the deprived people in their dire needs, abolition of Brahmin monopoly not only in the public life but even in the prestigious, religious ceremonies and so on. Liberation from god and religion as guided by Periyar saved people from the huge and recurrent wastage of time, energy, wealth and other resources required for religious rituals and pilgrimages. In addition, the newly liberated people breathed fresh air full of liberty, equality, fraternity, social justice and self-respect. Confidence in god was replaced by self-confidence in man. He made people give up drinking, gambling and other vices. He advocated inter-marriages, among various castes and insisted upon the free consent of the prospective life-partners. He worked for abolishing child marriages, encouraged women’s education and widow-remarriages. Thus his campaigns yielded concrete results for anyone to see. Periyar was arrested a number of times; but each arrest, instead of weakening his campaigns only strengthened them. The over-all result was simply spectacular. Ever since the political power was seized by a party (DMK) meant to realize the dream of Periyar, there is no going back on any front.

And then one of the most important factors that made Periyar a huge success was the great following he got of self-less workers like Thiru K. Veeramani and also of dignitaries like Thiru C.N. Annadurai, Kalaignar M.Karunanidhi and Thiru M.G. Ramachandran. The whole atmosphere breathed Periyar’s teachings. Films, dramas, novels, poems, short stories, newspapers, periodicals and broadcasts reverberated his spirit. People adorned their houses with his photos, and had them in their badges; they named institutions and projects after him; even his statues were erected. He started journals: Viduthalai (Freedom), Kudiarasu (Republic), Pagutharivu (Rationalism) and Unmai (truth) which were very largely read. Periyar himself contributed numerous articles in his original, witty, sarcastic and lucid style that led to intellectual awakening.

Additionally, the people whom Periyar addressed and helped were not only the down-trodden masses but were also living in a compact geographical area. Organizing them was comparatively easy.

The halo around Periyar was brightened by his tours abroad. In the 1920s and the 30s of the 20th century, foreign travel was quite rare, risky and costly, and whoever went abroad was looked at with awe by the general populace. Of course, Periyar also reaped this advantage from his foreign tours. But additionally, Periyar’s tours abroad had a point of difference in that at that time, mostly, wealthy people went abroad at their own cost, while Periyar went abroad on foreign invitation and on public support. Anyway, his words acquired additional authenticity, halo and weight by his foreign tours: Malaysia and Ceylon in 1929, Turkey, its neighbouring countries, Greece, Egypt, England, Germany, France and Portugal and the USSR in 1931-32. His own atheist and modernist outlook got further strengthened by his foreign tours.

All in all Periyar occupies a unique place in the philosophical revolution and renaissance we find in the Tamil Nadu.

Yet one thing has got to be kept in mind. Although what Periyar said was addressed mainly to the Dravid people most of what he preached was in fact addressable to all the people. He himself said, “Let the public be aware that the efforts of ourselves and our Dravidian party are not meant for any individual but for the progress of the whole human society”. (In there a god? P. 70). He wanted socialism to be the goal because, “Socialism is beyond all religions, communities and countries. It wants every one in the world to have adequate food, good shelter and reasonable means of livelihood”. (Periyar: The Father of Tamil Race p.25). K. Veeramani also writes, “Periyar asserted that he held no attachment to any particular country, people or language and that all his activities were guided by his love of humanity and the need to serve it”. (Periyar and his Ideologies p. 12). This is why Periyar’s is a philosophy for all and is not a mere sectarian propaganda intended for securing temporary gains. His is a philosophy meant to secure social justice and self-respect for each and all.

But it would be wrong to think that Periyar’s path was smooth. On the contrary, it was full of thorns, pits and obstacles of various sorts. The whole tradition and establishment were against him. The elite (most of them being Brahmins) was against him; the elite had its tentacles spread in every sphere of life to harass the masses. Because of the traditionalism, the very poor, illiterate, superstitious and the fatalist masses for whose benefit he was working were not very often with him. Yet, he performed a Herculean task of awakening the sleeping masses of making them rational, humanist, socialist, literate and living a life of self-respect. For his dedication to social service, Periyar was felicitated by a number of agencies. To top it all the UNESCO honoured him on 27th June 1970 at Chennai (formerly Madras) describing him to be, “a prophet of new age. Socrates of the South-East Asia, father of a movement of social reform and the bitter enemy of ignorance, superstitions, meaningless customs and traditions”. (Periyar: The Father of Tamil Race).

Periyar was extremely busy in his missionary compaign right up to his death on 24th Dec. 1973. Periyar is no more but his philosophy and work are very much here, there and ready to spread everywhere.

Periyar exhorted people to be rational. He himself was a rationalist of a very high order. Rationalism was the bedrock of the movements he started. He was very sensitive to the miseries of the people. He could not tolerate the inhumanities inflicted by men upon other men. The inhumanities melted his heart. Yet instead of being too emotional he tackled the situation coolly and rationally. He pointed out that man possesses an infinite capacity of knowledge. It is this capacity that distinguishes man from the rest of the beings. He found that the people in many other countries have made tremendous progress because they adopted rational attitude while people in India are still guided by the religious attitude. Hence, we find that while India is still imprisoned in her fictitious past glory, the countries that adopted rational attitude have progressed in every sphere of life. One of the main reasons for the chaos and backwardness rampant in India is the hindrance the irrational people put in the path of rational people. Periyar deplored this state of affairs. The general masses are penny wise and pound foolish in their philosophy of life. While purchasing even small things they would examine them in every way possible but would uncritically and blindly accept the harmful way of life laid down by tradition and the priests. That is why, he advised people to continuously examine the solutions to the fundamental problems provided by others. He said, “Activities that are not consonant with rational understanding, intellectual enquiry and human needs, should not be carried on in the name of customs, traditions, god, religion, class, caste or in any other name”. (Periyar: The Father of Tamil Race p.61). “He who does not use his intelligence is only an animal”. (Ibid P. 62). “What man needs today is not money or shelter or transportation but the growth in intelligence”. (Ibid p. 63). He again said, “We should compete with each other more for acquiring knowledge than for earning money”. (Ditto).

Besides being a rationalist. Periyar was a socialist, an iconoclast, an atheist, a secularist, a humanist and a great reformist and revolutionary. It is but natural that he should fight against social inequalities, caste-system, illiteracy, slavery, exploitation, disease, social injustice, superstition, obscurantism, poverty and fatalism. And of course, for all this he has to eradicate god and religion because according to Periyar they are the two things that render people irrational. (Periyar on god and Man p. 5)

Let us study his views regarding these and other matters in a bit more detail. We should remember that since Periyar’s approach is rational, he is essentially empirical and mundane in his approach as well as objectives. Naturally he rejects all the supernatural type of entities like soul, god, angels, etc. In what follows we will note in some detail his invectives particularly against god and religion since they are the major manifestations of human irrationality. He attacked them also because he had to clear the ground for the creation of a rational society consisting of rational persons.

- http://www.modernrationalist.com/2010/October/page02.html

Periyar’s Message Spreads Across The World

Periyar’s Message Spreads Across The World

The ideas and ideals, the values and principles of Periyar are
steadily spreading far and wide. The fact that year after year
increasing number of people in different parts of the world enthusiastically participate in his birth-day celebrations is an indication of the growing awareness and acceptance of the views and the way of life he advocated.

Seminars and celebrations are organised to discuss the services and views of Periyar in Canada, America, United Kingdom, Gulf countries, Myanmer , Malaysia, Singapore etc., besides the various states in India. In Tamilnadu, the state in which he was born, brought up and where he mainly carried on his activities, not a day passes without some meeting or other is conducted to spread his message.

Adopting all kinds of constitutional and democratic means, Dravidar Kazhagam works with zeal and sense of duty to see his noble ideas and ideals reach all the people in Tamilnadu, in other states and in other parts of the world. The daily and the magazines he had been running are now modernized. They are: Viduthalai, the Tamil rationalist daily, Unmai, the Tamil fortnightly and The Modern Rationalist, the monthly. (An additional edition of Viduthalai has been started two years ago in Tiruchirappalli).Periyar Pinju, a Tamil monthly for boys and girls, is being published since a few years ago.

Audio and Video relays are made using internet facilities to explain Periyar’s ideas, to indicate how they are propagated and to show their beneficial impact.

Several volumes of Periyar’s writings and speeches have been regularly brought out as popular and library editions. Several thousand copies of the books are sold through depots as well as mobile facilities.

Kudi Arasu, the Tamil weekly, edited by Periyar from 1925 to 1949 entirely changed the outlook and revolutionized the thinking of the Tamil People. His ideas published in those volumes are now being chronologically published in compact volumes.

More and more translations of Periyar’s works in English and in other languages like Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi and French are being brought out.

Periyar Public Trusts maintain medical care and run educational institutions in Chennai, Tiruchirappalli and Thanjavur. From the primary school to the university thousands of boys and girls get quality education upto post graduate level. They have received encomiums from dignitaries like V.P.Singh, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi besides academicians from within and outside the country.

Beasides the Periyar Centre in Chennai, those in Delhi are proud additions to reach out to wider circle.

Thus Periyar is globalised surely and steadily. He is needed to cure the ills of the world. His Self-Respect philosophy will serve as an appropriate basis to build a brave new world free from injustice, inequity, cruelty, superstition, fear, hunger, disease, poverty etc.

He began his public life to fight against man made psychological instruments of human exploitation in the form of unquestioning faith in God, religion and scriptures. They created mental shackles in the form of soul (Atma), rebirth, doctrine of Karma and fate. The very victims of suppression and exploitation accepted their lowly condition as pre-ordained and divinely ordered. Periyar undertook the task of awakening and uplifting such people by instilling the spirit of self-respect, self-help, free thought and equal respect for all humans, without any sense of inequality based on birth.

Periyar began his service amidst stiff opposition. His friends advised him not to critise God, religion and scriptures. If he gave up his rationalist views he could soon gain great popularity, they counseled. But Periyar did not want to become popular by giving up the task of spreading truth. He was sure that people will realise in future that there is no God, and that true morality is not based on religion. He was confident that secular humanism will win the day. And he is proving to be prophetic.

- http://www.modernrationalist.com/2010/October/page01.html

http://www.myebook.com/ebook_viewer.php?ebookId=45582

2010 GLOBAL ATHEIST CONVENTION HELD IN MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

2010 GLOBAL ATHEIST CONVENTION HELD IN MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

2010 Global Atheist Convention

The March 2010 Global Atheist Convention (GAC) in Melbourne, Australia from 12th to 14th of March, was a watershed event that lived up to its theme, The Rise of Atheism, in so many ways. Over 2,500 people attended this largest, priceless gathering of freethinkers to hear from more than 25 of the world’s most prominent atheists, philosophers, scientists, commentators and comedians.

The convention was jointly sponsored by the Atheist Foundation of Australia and the Atheist Alliance International.

The first accomplishment was holding an Atheist Alliance International convention outside the western hemisphere for the first time - and for only the second outside the United States - in its 18 year history. The fact that the 2010 convention was more than three times larger than the largest US-based AAI convention added to the luster of that accomplishment.

The GAC committee that came together after AAI and AFA agreed to co-sponsor the convention was a dream team that brought a wide variety of exceptional skills and experience that were put to the test almost immediately upon their recruitment, and survived the test with aplomb. All of those efforts were overseen by the most capable leadership team of David Nicholls and Lee Holmes.

Wider media coverage

The world press was just as much in the mix covering the gathering of all these atheists. The Convention was covered by all the Australian press - some better than others, some more impartial, as reporters are supposed to be, than others - and the international press, on national and international news programs and talk shows, and talk radio had a field day. The Internet was alive with daily postings and blogs, updates and videos, and attendees tweeted throughout the presentation for up-to-the-minute and real-time happenings on Twitter to let the world know they are there.

The 2010 Global Atheist Convention actually started Friday, 12th March afternoon with a pre-convention gathering of Australian university students from all over the country. Over 100 students representing 20 university student atheist groups were there to officially codify the Constitution and Bylaws of the new Freethought University Alliance. (FUA)

But that night was the real opening. As 1,500 atheists gathered at the base of the escalator, waiting for the 6.00 pm registration opening, it was the largest, kindest, nicest, most pleasant mob of damn atheists ever could be seen. People were milling about, talking, enjoying each other’s company, and revelling in their sheer numbers.

And it was truly a diverse atheist world. Young, old, adult, kids, teens, university students, military, hippie, goth, punk, tattooed, suits, jeans, slacks, long-hair guys, shorthair women, pink hair, blue hair, no hair, dreadlocks, crutches, canes, wheelchairs, strollers. The gender split was almost 50/50. In less than 90 minutes, all 1,500 plus media were processed and entered the opening night festivities.

The first biggest world atheist event in Australia

When David Nicholls, President of the Atheist Foundation of Australia, came on the stage and said those first few sentences with “Atheist Foundation of Australia,” the crowd erupted into loud and sustained applause. This was a crowd that had waited a long time for an atheist event of this stature, and they were showing it with glee. While Nicholls’ speech was short, it was a glorious start to a weekend of Atheism. Next spoke Stuart Bechman, President of Atheist Alliance International, the co-sponsor of the convention

The rest of the weekend was just as fantastic. From the speakers, to the parties, to the outside-the-convention gatherings, the restaurants, the conversations, the friendliness and friendships, everyone truly felt at home halfway around the world.

Speakers gave variety of ideas

The line-up of this greatest show on earth was stellar, a world-showing of international atheist talent and speakers, and all giving the audience what they came for: Camaraderie, Unity, Enthusiasm, Rationality, Vision, Hope for Future, Atheism. And something more. The audience laughed at and with the words from Sue-Ann and Catherine, and from Dan Barker, Julian Morrow, Craig Reucassel and PZ Myers. They cried with Taslima Nasrin. They pondered their words through the laughter and tears, as they pondered the more serious-oriented presentations by Taslima, A.C.Grayling, Tamas Pataki, Philip Adams, John Perkins, Max Wallace and Richard Dawkins.

Gleaming exhibition centre

The event itself was world-class. Renowned speakers from four continents converged on the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre - itself a gleaming, beautiful brand-new facility, open only six months - for the three-day weekend to inform and entertain the crowds.

Convention was full of
valuable programmes

Starting with Friday, 12th March evening’s opening ceremony, each day - each hour - seemed to just build on the last, until the triumphant Richard Dawkins graced the stage at Sunday’s close to put a perfect cap on the entire weekend. The comedy of Sue-Ann Post and Catherine Deveny on Friday night really set a high tone for the rest of the weekend.

The Saturday morning programme began with Phillip Adams and continued to build with Russell Blackford, Max Wallace and John Perkins each speaking on their respective topics, leading to a crescendo of the incredible presentation of Taslima Nasrin.

Indirect effects of the Convention

Besides the impressive success of the event itself, the indirect effects that the convention had was also impressive. From the start, the Australian media took an intense, if jaded, interest in the event; and in so doing, they contributed to religious communities reacting and protesting. And the louder and angrier they got the more attention the convention attracted and the higher the registration numbers climbed. All these events continued to keep the media engaged, providing unprecedented and priceless national coverage. In the week leading up and during the convention, the national media ran a series of coverage articles from pundits and religious leaders, even ‘outing’ three Australian atheist MPs on the closing day of the event.

Freethought University Alliance created

It was not just the media. At the revelation of the spurning of the government funding request, a generous benefactor donated several thousand dollars to the project to bring university youth to the convention. That led to the establishment of the Freethought University Alliance on the Friday before the convention, with no less than twenty campus freethought groups as founding members.

Throughout the convention, other freethought groups and individuals made time to connect and plan, and much more cooperation and collaboration of Australian freethought groups was most likely to come out with least a couple of new joint projects expected to be launched over the next twelve months.

Successful conduct of the Convention

For the organisers, the lead up to the 2010 Global Atheist Convention was a time of high drama as each day problem-solving became more intense with unknowns popping out of the woodwork at regular intervals. Each potential upset needed immediate and intelligent appraisal to affect a solution. The Convention Committee overcame every obstacle and always just in time.

The success of the convention depended heavily on decisions, some made in haste, as there was no other choice, by the Committee. A genuine statement is that they orchestrated a symphony of ideas into a reality enjoyed by all.

A sea of smiling faces, people experiencing a common relief at knowing they were no longer alone in their Atheism. Speakers, performers and the audience recognised the significance of this world changing event. All present felt that Atheism had indeed come of age and that they were a presence in society no longer willing to sit quietly by and let religion run their lives.

Reverbations of religionists

So powerful was this amazing event that reverberations were apparent in the media for many weeks after. Easter was a good example. Frightened by the over display of Atheism, bishops and priests lashed out at Atheism as the root of all evil. So intense was the attack it attracted news outlets to contact the AFA in droves for comment. In less than a week, the AFA had given 17 interviews about the ferocity of religious resistance to the 2010 Global Atheist Convention.

Atheists must assert themselves

There are many lessons to be learned from this magnificent gathering of like-minds. First and foremost is that we have religion on the back-foot and we must keep them there. It is very apparent that Atheists must react publicly to the infliction of non-empirically evidenced faith-driven ideas onto the wider community.

It is time to throw away religious
people from power

The 2010 Global Atheist Convention has empowered freethinkers, possibly worldwide, to take stronger role in decisions by governments that affect all citizens. Letters to editors, blogs and secular web sites are reflecting the view that Atheism has indeed come of age. Now is the time to re-evaluate voting habits of old. If you want a safer planet, a more egalitarian society, now is the time to put other matters aside and vote out of office any politician aspiring to religious ideals over those of a secular nature. Now is the time to utilise fully the impetus supplied by The Rise of Atheism convention.

( Report complied and edited by DKB from The Australian Atheist - May - June 2010)

- http://www.modernrationalist.com/2010/august/page12.html

THE EIGHTH WORLD ATHEIST CONFERENCE IN TIRUCHIRAPPALLI ON 7,8,9 JANUARY, 2011

THE EIGHTH WORLD ATHEIST CONFERENCE IN TIRUCHIRAPPALLI ON 7,8,9 JANUARY, 2011

The Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976 came into effect from 3 January 1977. The
Amendment prescribes Fundamental Duties under Part. IV-A, wherein Article 51A(h) states that it shall be the duty of every citizen of India “to develop scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform.”

Even fifty years before this provision was included in the Constitution, Periyar E.V.Ramasamy began to spread ideas of Self-Respect, rationalism, humanism and egalitarianism through his Tamil magazineKudi Arasu (People’s Government) published from 2 May 1925.

Gora of Andhra Pradesh, a staunch follower of Mahatma Gandhi’s constructive programme, differed from his leader in one respect, namely in opposing theist views and upholding atheist values. He called his outlook on life as Positive Atheism, and lived accordingly in private and public life from 1930s. In his words: “The spread of the atheist outlook is hope of humanity to turn from war to peace, from slavery to freedom, from superstition to a sense of reality.

Gora took the initiative to organise the First World Atheist Meet at Vijayawada, India, in 1972. After his demise the Second World Atheist Conference was held at Vijayawada in December 1980. The Third World Atheist Conference was held at Helsinki, Finland, the main organiser being the Union of Freethinkers of Finland. The subsequent conferences were held at Vijayawada organised by the Atheist Centre founded by Gora.

Dravidar Kazhagam has been participating in those conferences from 1996. Now the Eighth World Atheist Conference is going to be held at Tiruchirappally (Trichy) Tamil Nadu State, India on 7, 8, 9 January 2011, jointly sponsored by Dravidar Kazhagam, the Atheist Centre and The Rationalists’ Forum of Tamil Nadu. Hundreds of delegates and thousands of participants will attend the conference. The theme of the Conference is chosen as “Atheism - An Alternate Culture”.

The atheist fraternity is known the world over by various names - rationalists, free thinkers, skeptics, humanists, secularists, agnostics etc. according to the stress they lay on different aspects of truth-seeking.

There are certain views and ideas they have in common. They do not have any faith in revealed truth or holy scriptures as containing final truths, nor do they belong to any established religion. Their outlook is liberal and they are ready to adopt and change according to the changing circumstances. They demand separation of the Church and the State, cheishing secular values as a sure way of promoting understanding, harmony and unity among different sections of society. As they are not guided by any established religion or revealed truth, they have no prejudices, preconceived notions and fanatic attachments. Human destiny is decided by natural phenomena and human endeavour, and not by any supernatural agency including god.

The atheist fraternity has no faith in life after death. They aspire to make life in this world happy and contended, free from wars, bloody conflicts, exploitation, suppression, injustice, ignorance, superstition, unexamined and cruel customs, traditions etc.

Fundamentalists make use of science and technology to propagate fanaticism, superstition, division and discord in order to dupe, deceive and defraud people, whereas atheists focus on using inventions and innovations to preserve this planet as a healthy place free from pollution and to make life beautiful and meaningful.

Let us meet at the World Atheist Conference and discuss ways and means to make our dream a reality.

courtesy:http://www.modernrationalist.com/2010/july/page01.html

PERCEPTIONS ABOUT PHILOSOPHY OF GOD AND RELIGION – IV

Is not the existence of religions responsible for differentiations and disunity amongst the people of the world? Are not the religions to be blamed for the hatred in the society? Are not the religions responsible for man swindling and exploiting the other man?

How are we to believe that all these religions were created by men with divine powers? We have to ponder over deeply these issues. Because the creators of religions are credited to be men of divinity, many others later on came to be revered as divine persons. Their number is going on increasing day by day. No one cares to think of it. Buddha, Jesus, Mohamad, Nayanmars, Alwars, Swamijis, Mahatmas, Rishis, Sai Babas and umpteen number of others are being paraded as divine men. There are many controversies, agitations, fights and difference of opinion about them.

After the advent of rationalist propaganda, there is an awakening. A large section of the people are now able to exercise their thinking faculties in an unbiased manner. With the result you find the divine men dwindling. Now, Alwars, Nayanmars and Dasars have not been born. What have these divine people achieved to emancipate masses? How many are able to realise god and research god and reach him on account of their preaching? As things stand today people are not prepared to accept all sorts of fellows as divine men. Rarely do we find efforts taken to create one or two divine personalities here and there. Even such creations met with an early end as an exotic plant. The more and more you aspire to realize the truth about god and religion, they run way far from you in gallops.

My interpretation of philosophy about god and religion might cause you surprise. Some of my views might be different from your views.

Why should there be so much confusion about god and religion, which are repeatedly emphasized as important and indispensable for humanity. Many considered these as true and absolutely necessary for man. In fact, many believed these versions, with the result god and religion gained a vast influence and importance in the life of man. Why such a planned propaganda is being carried on even now in support of god and religion as conceived by these different divine men? How does any urgency arise for it? What is the result? Who is able to gain by this?

Above all, are we to think that Jesus and Mohamed, who were unselfish and who sacrificed a lot were not able to understand the real philosophy of god and religion as they are preached today?

Comrades! Man is not able to see or feel god directly and independently, even though god is said to be all powerful and capable of controlling all things in the world. He is still dependent on others called the divine people. God has to be denoted as god by others. Similarly religions did not crop up of their own accord. They were simply created by others. Man has to be forced to act according to religion and their regulations.

What is the logical inference?

God and religion are confusing the society. They are to be indicated to humanity by someone else. They are unable to establish by themselves. They need others for that purpose. They still need a strong propaganda. This is what we are able to understand clearly.

Whatever it be, we cannot totally condemn all the so called divine men. We cannot also suspect all their actions. Jesus and Mohamed come under this category. It cannot be denied that there is no wisdom in everything they said. We cannot say that all were selfish.

Since god and religion are created exclusively for the rational human beings, and so no god or religion is created for other living beings, we are led to believe that they are created for the well-being of humanity only.

Such a necessity arises only because of the fact that of all the living beings, it is only the human beings who live together forming a society of their own.

Generally speaking all living beings look after themselves. They are eager to get their own desires fulfilled. It is their natural instinct. They do not worry about the comforts of others.

Man is wiser than other living beings. If a man is induced by unlimited selfishness, it may endanger the interests of others. It might result in causing danger to the society. It is this concept that justifies the creation of god and religion. For a man living totally isolated, there is no need for a god or religion. But a man who lives with others as a part of the bigger society, certain restrictions were naturally imposed on him on various walks of life. He has to live in an unnatural way. Only then the society can exist. Otherwise you will find men behaving as mere beasts in the society. In order to enable a man live against nature and for general welfare, the learned elders ought to have created and preached about god and religion.

To understand this clearly, please think over what for the institutions like king, government, laws and punishment were there. If there is no kindness, law and punishment there will be no peace. There will be no adequate protection. There will be no order. We are able to lead at least this much of life because of such arrangements as king, laws and punishment. These are of course helpful to enable people to live together. Yet we cannot say that nothing more is needed.

(From the book: Collected Works of Periyar E.V.R. - Translation of a speech in Tamil delivered
by Periyar E.V.Ramasami at Salem Arts College
in 1949)

courtesy: http://www.modernrationalist.com/2010/july/page02.html

Sri Lanka Should Seize The Opportunity

Sri Lanka Should Seize The Opportunity

We welcome heartily what our External Affairs Minister, Pranab Mukerjee has significantly said at Thoothukudi on 28th February on the civil war between the majority Sinhala Nationality and the minority Tamil Eelam Nationality in Sri Lanka:

“The Indian government views with great concern the humanitarian crisis that is building up with every passing day in Sri Lanka. There are reports that over 70,000 civilians are trapped in the conflict zone and there is acute shortage of food, water and medicines.”

He further pointed out, “ it is reported that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has offered a cease-fire. While this may fall short of a declaration of willing ness to lay down arms, it is our view that the Government of Sri Lanka should seize the opportunity presented by the opponent to bring about a pause in hostilities. The Government of India would, therefore, appeal to the Sri Lankan Government to immediately work out safe passage for trapped civilians to secure locations and this would require the cooperation of the LTTE too.”

The minister has also indicated that the pause in hostilities “must be utilised to facilitate the movement of the Tamil population out of the war-affected areas to secure location where proper rehabilitation is possible and international aid organisations as also the ICRC have free access and scope to provide medical and other form of humanitarian aid.”

He added that India was making arrangements to send an emergency medical unit and medicines to render assistance to internally displaced persons in north Lanka.

The cease-fire and shifting of civilians to safety should be followed by “effecting a proper devolution of powers to the provinces, with assurances of equality and equal rights to all citizens, particularly the Tamil people, within the constitutional framework of Sri Lanka maintaining its territorial integrity.”

Mr. Mukherjee has expressed the hope that the Government of Sri Lanka and all others will respond to his sincere appeal made in the interest of all sections of the people in Sri Lanka.

Hon’ble Chief Minister Kalaignar Karunanidhi’s untiring efforts - even during his hospitalisation for a surgery - have begun to bear fruits. He formed Sri Lanka Tamils Welfare and Protection Forum and a Sub-committee of legal experts . He constanly appealed to the UPA Chairperson, the Prime Minister and the External Affairs Minister to undertake all possible steps to stop the genocide and bring peace permanently to Tamils.

It is very unfortunate that politics was inducted even in this important common humanitarian ethnic issue of protection of Tamils. Inspite of it we see the twilight! Let there be a dawn.

Vested interests present the civil war in Lanka as the government’s fight against terrorism; it is a gross misrepresentation of the real issue. The Eelam Tamils have their own rich language with classical tradition dating back to more than two thousand years. Their traditional Home Land comprises the contiguous region in the north-eastern part of the island of Sri Lanka.

After Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon) got freedom from the British rule, the majoritarian regimes of that country are systematically taking discriminatory and harmful measures against the Tamils there. Sinhala alone is made the national language, and Buddhism the national religion. The Tamil language and the multi-religious tradition of the Tamils are relegated to a secondary or subordinate position. Their traditional homeland in the north-eastern part of the island is colonised in a planned manner with active government support with the sinistar motive of making Tamils minorities in their own land.

It is against these unjust and exploitative measures, the Federal Party of S.J..V. Selvanayagam, his colleagues and followers agitated in a peaceful manner. But their protests were met with brutal suppression by the successive Sinhala majoritarian regimes. The solemn agreements the government entered into to ameliorate the hardships and the miseries of the Tamils were repeatedly violated, and they were forced to live in insecurity. There was absolutely no scope to redress their conditions by democratic methods. It was under these circumstances the Sri Lankan Tamils, after more than twenty years of fruitless constitutional struggle for a federal polity, voted overwhelmingly for a liberated Tamil Eelam. Subsequently, the hard-hearted, unbending and inhumanly cruel attitude of the Sri Lankan rulers forced the youth to take up arms to protect their lives, honour, property, culture and homeland.

The truce effected in 2002 by the Norwegian initiative and the subsequent peace talks came to an end because of the obduracy, adamant stand the deliberate decision of the Mahinda Rajapaksha’s government. Army, navy and airforce were used to suppress the country’s own citizens. Cluster bombs are mercilessly dropped. Civilians, young and old including children are killed in thousands. Eelam Tamils are put to genocide. Major powers like the U.S.A., the European Union, Japan , the U.N. and Canada have asked to stop the war and find a just negotiated settlement. The Government of India has repeatedly made its stand clear on the same lines on more than one occasion.

The people of Tamil Nadu in India are pained beyond measure to see their kith and kin put to untold misery and genocide. With solidarity they have shown their anguish and anger in various ways. Though we totally disapprove of the tragic method, more than half a dozen persons of Tamil Nadu have killed themselves to draw attention of the international community to the untold sufferings of the Eelam Tamils and to urge the regimes to take effective steps to stop the genocide.

We earnestly hope that the announcement of our external affairs minister and the measured steps of our Chief Minister Kalaignar in cooperation with Union government will lead to a satisfactory peaceful solution to the decades long Sri Lankan problem.

"Buddhist Principles and Periyar"

K.Veeramani

Gautama Siddhartha (B.C. 566-486) became the Buddha, the Enlightened One after which he led a life of selfless and dedicated service, spreading the message of compassion and reason. His conception of religion was purely ethical. He put all his emphasis on conduct. In his view saintliness and contentment were to be found not in worship or rituals, but in selfless and virtuous labour. He did not accept the authority of the Vedas, and opposed the Varna-Jaathi (caste) system. In Buddha's philosophy, there was no place for heaven, purgatory or hell. Matter has force and all substance motion. The soul is a myth. He never pretended that God was speaking through him. He taught in Pali, the language of the common people who found emancipation from fear and superstition in his noble teachings.

Buddha's simple and open-minded approach, his adherence to rational outlook, his abhorrence of obscurantist speculation about elusive (non) entities, and his opposition to hierarchical birth-based graded inequality appealed to Periyar E.V.Ramasamy (17.9.1789 - 24.12.1973) who ceaselessly and wholeheartedly strived hard for restructuring the ignorant, superstitious, divided and discriminatory Indian society on the basis of liberty, equality, enlightenment and self-respect. Though he rarely cited the ideas and opinions of others to prove his point or to add weight to his judgement, he used to speak in praise of Buddha and Thiru Valluvar for their stress on the spirit of inquiry, and on the virtues of love, wisdom and fraternal social relations.

Periyar formulated the Indian social issues in relation to religion in this way : How to wean people from their belief in the Vedic and Puranic gods around whom the orthodoxy, to promote their own vested interests, have spun despicable and degrading stories? How to make them give up their wasteful and harmful worship of the idols, participating in meaningless, mechanical and extravagant rites, rituals, ceremonies and festivities? How to make people imbibe noble principles and values and to adopt a cultured rational way of life? Periyar resorted to two kinds of solutions to these issues : First, he demonstrated to the masses the powerlessness of 'gods' by breaking the idols and burning their pictures. In this way, he also encouraged them to hate the injurious and baneful beliefs and practices. Secondly, he propagated the virtuous, truthful and beneficial ideas, values and ways of living by organising functions in the name of the Buddha and Thiru Valluvar.

In pursuit of this policy, Periyar asked his followers to celebrate on 27th May 1953 the festival of Buddha and to break the idols of the elephant-headed god, Ganesha, who is also variously called as Pillaiyar, Vigneswara, Ganapathi, Gajapathi, Vinayaka etc. His appeal was carried out through out Tamil Nadu. Periyar and his companions celebrated the Buddha day in Tiruchirappalli and broke the idols in the open ground (maidan) before the Town Hall. This daring unheard of activity stirred the minds of the people. They began to question the authenticity of the 'puranic' stories and doubt the efficacy of gods. The Hindu orthodoxy perceived this trend to be a dangerous one as it threatened the psychological basis of their traditional privileged status. So the Hindu Sanathanists formed an association to 'eradicate' Atheism, and through its secretary filed a case, under section 295 of I.P.C. against Periyar and two of his companions, T.P.Vedhachalam, a senior advocate, and M.R.Radha, a popular rationalist actor, stating that they had hurt the religious sentiments by their iconoclastic activity. First, the Divisional First Class Magistrate and then the District Sessions Judge declared the case unsustainable. Consequently, the complainants appealed to the Madras High Court. Justice N. Somasundaram dismissed the appeal petition on 13th October, 1954, stating that though the intentions of the respondents might have been to hurt the religious sentiments of a large numbers of people, their action was not an offence because they broke only the images they had themselves made or bought, and not those worshipped in a temple.

To propagate the principles of Buddha, Periyar E.V.R convened a conference at his native town of Erode on 23rd anuary, 1954. presiding over the conference, Dr.G.P.Mallalasekhara, Professor of Buddhist Culture in the University of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), observed that the teachings of Buddha, when properly followed, would contribute to international understanding and world peace. He complimented Periyar for endeavouring to reform the society, amidst concerted and sustained opposition, in accordance with the path shown by Buddha.

Raj Boj, General Secretary of All India Depressed Classes Federatifon and Member of Parliament inaugurated the conference. He said the depressed classes and a vast majority of others in India were subjected to various kinds of cruelties and deprivations under Brahminical social order. Buddhism treated all equally, and in ancient times it overthrew the authority of Brahminism. But Brahminical revival took place through the spread of Saiva and Vaishnava sects and social inequalities got entrenched. The people in the south of India stood unitedly behind Periyar E.V.Ramasamy for the purpose of putting an end to Brahminism. The various struggles they launched under his leadrshlip in this regard had inspired those in other parts also, told Raj Boj.

Periyar unveiled the portrait of Buddha and spoke on the occasion. He told that the conference convened to propagate the principles of Buddha might also be termed as one opposed to Brahmins who were responsible for driving out Buddhism from the land of its origin. Buddha advised that no one should follow him blindly nor accept unquestionably whatever he uttered. The Self-respect movement stressed the same view for about 30 years from its very inception in 1925. Periyar welcomed the revival of Buddhism in India.

One of the resolutions passed in the Erode conference for the propagation of Buddha's principles said this :

"As the Hindu scriptures (Sastras), mythologies (Puranas) and epics (Ithihasas) are concocted and used by the Aryans for their domination and progress and to enslave, degrade and keep in ignorance the Dravidians, they should be eradicated."

Another resolution stated : "As Buddha's life and teachings expose the falsity of the concepts of god, soul, heaven, hell, fate, rites, rituals and ceremonies and stress non-discriminatory, egalitarian social order based on love and mutual help, all sections of people in Tamil Nadu, all organisations and institutions should take steps for the spread of his principles and their application in the actual life of the human race."

While speaking in a public meeting in Madras (now Chennai) on January 31, 1954, Periyar said: "Buddha's philosophy, teachings and principles are very useful for the activities of upholding our principles (stated in Self-respect movement) and of eradicating harmful things."

Periyar went to Rangoon, capital of Burma (now Yangoon and Myanmar respectively) to attend the world Buddhists conference, and spoke in it on 3rd December 1954. He met there Dr. Mallalasekhara, President of the World Buddhists Association and Baba Saheb Dr. B.R.Ambedkar. Periyar and Ambedkar had a long discussion for more than an hour on 5th December. Perhaps this was their last extensive exchange of ideas in person before the latter passed away two years later on 6th December 1956. Baba Saheb had by that time decided to get converted to Buddhism, and asked Periyar to follow suit. But the latter told that he preferred to expose the cruelties of Hinduism by remaining within its fold as otherwise his adversaries would divert the minds of the people and mislead them saying a non-Hindu had no right to criticise the Hindu way. He also requested Ambedkar to take along with him a very large number of people in case he embraced Buddhism.

In his rationalist Tamil daily 'Viduthalai' dated 4th April, 1956, Periyar wrote thus : " I request members of Dravidar Kazhagam and all others to celebrate in a grand manner the 2500th birth anniversary of Buddha in Chennai and in all parts of Tamil Nadu and to take all efforts to propagate his precepts in such a way as to make all people to imbibe them in their hearts. To my knowledge the following are the important among his precepts.

1. Subject everything (you come across) to thorough inquiry using your intellect.

2. Accept only those that you reason finds as proper.

3. Do not accept the incomprehensible and merely imaginary words like god, sou 0.l, devas, heaven, hell, Brahmin, Sudra and Panchama.

Of all the creatures in the world, humans are supreme being endowed with the faculty of reason that is capable of comprehending a thing after proper inquiry and analysis (rational thinking.)

4. Do not believe any thing just because it is claimed to be god's revelation, it is mentioned in the scriptures (Vedas), it is the opinion of a great person, it is followed by a very large number of people or it is practised for quite a long time. Believe only that which appeals to your well informed mind and reason.

Periyar undertook a north Indian tour in February 1959. He addressed very large gatherings in Kanpur and Lucknow. What he spoke about Buddha in those meetings was reported briefly in 'Viduthalai' dated 21st February, 1959 : "To eradicate the degradation of Sudras and Panchamas who are nowadays known as backward people, we have to eradicate religion, scriptures (Shastras) and gods created by the Aryans. So long as these entities remain, we cannot abolish caste. It is for this reason Ambedkar became a Buddhist. He also made many others to join Buddhism. So all should come forward to get red of Hindu religion, god and caste, by means of adopting the Buddhist path.

Buddha's philosophy of compassion and reason, mutual understanding and peace appealed to Periyar. What we have given here is only a glimpse of what he did through out his life to emphasise the Buddhist concern to uphold human dignity and establish an egalitarian social order.

The modern rationalist online. -- URL:

http://files.periyar.org.in/TheModernRationalist/