It was a confluence of like-minded rationalists and reformers on 5th January 2022 at the headquarters of the Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. A special meet was convened under the presidency of Dr. K.Veeramani, President of the DK Movement.
Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) is a US based organisation widely known for its public services and progressive policies. Daniel Barker and Amitabh Pal, the principal executives of FFRF were the chief guests at the event.
Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (‘MANS’) is a renowned rationalist forum functioning in the state of Maharashtra. The President of this forum, Avinash Patil was the guest of honour.
It was a special meet that resolved to spread the humanist policies and other progressive thoughts of Periyar all over the world, by collective efforts. The dignitaries were associated with American atheist organisations striving to delink people from blind faith and superstitions. They are also vigorous promoters of human rights with progressive ideas and missions.
The noble objective
The co-founder of FFRF, Daniel Barker and its Public Relations Director Amitabh Pal had visited India to observe the activities of atheist movements. They had planned to travel widely and study the tasks of atheist outfits in all the states. Upon their arrival at the DK Headquarters in Chennai, they eagerly went around all the vital spots and sections. They had an informal chat with the President of the Dravidar Kazhagam, Dr. K.Veeramani. Avinash Patil of ‘MANS’ curiously noted the activities of the DK Movement.
The inaugural address at the formal meeting that evening was by V.Kumaresan, the Treasurer of the DK as well as the Joint Editor of ‘The Modern Rationalist’. He said, “The faith of people in religions and gods has widely spread all over the world but there is an obvious change everywhere at present. People have begun their quest for freedom from religions and blind faith. The desire of the people to delink from those shackles is on the rise. The changes in the attitudes of people can be perceived all over the world. A few thousand years ago, loss of faith in god and an atheist outlook did prevail in India. But mere ‘denial of god’ has now transformed as a ‘protest against god’. Denial has gradually evolved as ‘discard’. The concept of god led to birth-based discriminations and seizure of basic human rights. Hence we are compelled to protest against the concept of ‘god’.”
The Joint Editor V.Kumaresan further said, “Religious fanaticism has denigrated our people and caused inequality in every sphere. In order to bring about a change and reform the Self-Respect Movement was founded by Periyar. He rendered public service for most part of his 95 year lifetime and fought for the emancipation of people. By his tireless struggle Tamil Nadu has made considerable progress to a great extent, compared with other states in India. We are heading towards absolute equality. After the lifetime of Maniammaiar, Asiriyar Veeramani has been striving on his footprints serving the people. Periyar laid a strong emphasis on “rejection of god” which is being adhered to by all the faithful cadres and followers of his principles.
Narendra Dabholkar’s dream
‘MANS’ was founded by Narendra Dabholkar who fought throughout his life to eradicate superstitions and blind beliefs. Its President Avinash Patil addressed the audience and said, “The members of our Samiti have been regularly participating in the events conducted by the DK Movement. The World Atheists Conference of 2018 held in Tiruchirappalli is unforgettable. We have been following the advice and guidance of Thiru. K.Veeramani. He is the only stalwart, who can lead rightly all the rationalist movements in the world. I urge him on behalf of our Samiti to continue his guiding service at all times. Let him lead. We shall follow.”
Pluralism – the pride of the USA
Amitabh Pal of Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), USA, highlighted pluralism which is the pride of nation for the USA. Though skin-colour based disparity and racial extremism prevailed in the past, today all are considered equal under the US law. Millions of Indians have been granted US citizenship. The immigrants of all the world countries co-exist peacefully. But some toxic forces are still causing sporadic ruckus to disturb the peaceful co-habitation. Our FFRF organisation has been relentlessly striving to uproot the toxic elements and establish humanist society at all levels. We assure our support to the Periyar Movement. We shall join you in the struggle for secularism intertwined with humanism. Let us synergetically fight and achieve true freedom from religion and irrationalism.”
Shackles of religion and blind faith
The co-founder of FFRF – USA, Daniel Barker spoke on his early life as a religious preacher and explained how he transformed himself as a profound atheist and rationalist. He said, “I started preaching atheism as a lone warrior. In 1984 I joined atheists around me and we founded FFRF by collective efforts. From the denial of god we have come to the protest against god. We believe that religion is the major obstacle for the progress and empowerment of women. Our organisation concentrates more on the welfare of women.”
Daniel Barker further added, “Most of the Americans have already lost faith in religion. 3 per cent of the US population were atheists long ago. Today 29 per cent of the US citizens are atheists. This does not mean that all the others are believers. Most of them are agnostics who neither deny god’s existence nor believe in it.” Daniel Barker said that he was glad to find the DK Movement grown as a people’s movement under the leadership of the President K.Veeramani. Barker commended the productive impact caused by the movement and assured to fight collectively for equality, humanism and Social Justice.”
Humanising the world
As the concluding part of the historic meet, the President of the Dravidar Kazhagam, Dr. K.Veeramani delivered an inspiring speech and said, “Religion prevents man’s total freedom in all respects. We are free thinkers with disbelief in the concept of religion. We are bound with each other ideologically. Daniel Barker set himself free in 1984 from the prison called religion and transformed as an atheist. With the same thirst for freedom Periyar founded the Self-Respect Movement 98 years ago. Rationalist thoughts which sprouted then nourished our spirit of inquiry and inculcated in us the urge for humanism. Our noble principles can be found adumbrated in our Constitution. Your FFRF organisation and our DK Movement have common vision and mission. Ours is not a political alliance but a societal alliance. Together we shall strive for the progress of the people and for everlasting humanism.”
Dr. K.Veeramani further said, “In the currency notes of the USA we still find the words ‘In God We Trust’. But in India, god has no place on our currency notes. We nipped one such effort in the bud. There is an intolerable dominance of religious fanatics in India but our relentless fight and resolve have made us invincible. We believe that sovereignty does not lie in any non-existent god.”
Asiriyar Dr. K.Veeramani said that our ideological battle is to be fought in the minds of the people. He recalled Periyar’s sarcastic comment in the 1930s that children are not gifts of any god or goddess. He insisted on family planning but gullible people remained soaked in blind faith. Periyar used to humorously ask, “Why can’t god give people food and shelter instead of children?” His dream of small families has come true to some extent. Compared to other states, our people in Tamil Nadu have smaller families today.
The DK President concluded his speech by assuring to strengthen the arms of ‘FFRF – USA’ and ‘MANS’ of Maharashtra in the fight for humanism, rationalism, atheism, equality, self-respect and secularism. He resolved to globalise not only Periyar but also humanism.
Compiled by: M.R.Manohar
