AsiriyarDr. K. Veeramani, Patron of the Rationalists’ Forum addressing the functionaries of the Forum. A few of the State level and district level functionaries of the Forum on the dias.
On 19th of November, 2023 ‘The Meet of Functionaries of the Rationalist Forum’ was held in Puducherry (formerly Pondicherry) as a get-together and discussion meet. Rationalist teachers, writers, media personnel and artists of the territory, many districts in Tamil Nadu participated in the event. Inaugurating the Conference of The Rationalists’ Forum,AsiriyarDr. K. Veeramani delivered an informative speech, the content of which are as follows, in nutshell:
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Rationalism can be briefly defined as the ability to reason. Reasoning ability makes humankind differ from animals. In order to make this truth clear as crystal, while inaugurating The Rationalists’ Forum in 1970 at Kalaivanar Arangam in Chennai, Thanthai Periyar said that movement of rationalists means movement of Humans. He founded The Rationalists’ Forum through his consistent propaganda of the Self Respect Movement, which keeps propagating everyday and makes common problems realised by the people. This consistency and the mode of propagation cannot be found in any other movement in India. We are second to none in this respect.
Our Voice of Protest:
Other movements involve themselves in propaganda based tasks only before elections, but we differ from them. We spread our voice of protest immediately against burning problems such as the unwarranted NEET, imposition of Hindi, hereditary occupation imposed behind the veil of ‘Vishwakarma Yojana’ etc; — we propagate our views opposing all these issues. We make people aware of the disadvantages of all these announcements, unjust decisions and harmful schemes.
Today we find rationalists in several fields such as print and electronic media, teaching, culture and arts. Like birds of the same feather our rationalist comrades are in numerous careers and occupations. This bondage like a family must grow stronger with the passage of time not for our personal welfare but for the welfare of the common people and for the betterment of society.
Shallow knowledge:
Our Constitution, the Articles and Clauses in it and various adumbrations in it are being discussed in meetings and conferences, only by us. Politicians and party leaders swear as a convention that they would always abide by it but they are not bothered to deeply probe into its intricacies or complex implications. It is a matter of regret that even legal professionals have only a shallow knowledge in the contents of the Constitution. Many of our pseudo intellectuals survive and eke out a living talking big about the Constitution, but are they crystal clear about all the Articles, Clauses and what they actually imply? In fact, they are not!
During the period of declared emergency we had to face a number of hurdles and harassments but one benefit we had derived was the Article in the Constitution – Article 51A(h). That particular amendment in the Constitution is being referred to and cited only by us. The fundamental duties of an Indian Citizen have been adumbrated in this 51A(h) Article. In such meetings organised by us, we keep citing such vital points to educate the listeners. People who listen to our speeches learn something really useful. No other movement anywhere in the country bothers about making such useful information reach the common public.
Adherence to 51A(h):
Ours is not a political party. We never contest elections. We are a movement primarily meant for public welfare services. On certain occasions of agitation we have even burnt the copies of the Constitution as a mark of protest, courted arrest and imprisonment. We had lost several precious lives during our struggles. Many of our loyal, faithful cadres had sacrificed their life for our noble ideals.
We never fail to commend the laudable provisions in the Constitution, while pointing out the segments detrimental to the common good of our people. As we stress almost in every meeting convened by us —
It shall be the duty of every citizen of India to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform”
Our Rationalists’ Forum has been adhering to the above adumbration as per Article 51A(h).
Five Keys to Wisdom:
Once Thanthai Periyar said – “I need only five persons to accompany me at all times; I do not need the company of anyone else.”
“Those five abstract persons,” Periyar said, are just five words used to frame questions – Why? How? What? When? Who?”
In fact, these five questions have made us reach great heights as humans. Without these questions, the mike which I am using now could not have been here at this moment; nor mobile phones in your pockets and the video camera which is recording this event now. Hence, questioning spirit caused advancement in our life. Scientific temper is the root of that questioning spirit.Thanthai Periyar gave us the freedom for wisdom. Irrationalism leads to blind faith. Rationalism leads to disillusionment. This, in turn gives us wisdom for ever. Periyar used to advise people to think freely and decide for themselves. He never forced them to accept his views blindly. This is the freedom of wisdom that we have learned from him. No one else has ever given it to humans.
Freedom of Wisdom made us dress decently; use paper instead ofpalm leaves; spectacles for eyesight; pen to write; the list would be endless. We have acquired thousands of such things that were once unheard of.
Rationalism Vs Nature:
The Fire and the Air were once believed to be God. Rationalist man invented fire fighting devices and today we are able to put out fire. Man invented fans and the circulation of air is controlled using regulators. This proves that our reasoning power can fight against natural disasters. Rationalism competes with Nature and wins. It makes us all complete human. People’s movement founded over rationalism exists only in our country in the world.
Rationalist Daily:
Once we invited Levi Fragel of Norway to Chennai. He had been the President of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) presently Humanists International. He commended our ‘Viduthalai’ – the ‘World’s Only Rationalist Daily’ and said –
“Most people in Norway and Sweden are atheists and rationalists like you in India, but we are not able to bring out a Daily newspaper. We publish only a bi-annual magazine. My rationalist friends in Australia too are unable to edit and publish a Rationalist Daily but you are doing it splendidly!” We explained all about our ‘Viduthalai’ and pointed out that we write in a simple, clear and lucid style about views without obscurity.
Superstitions opposed
Rationalists oppose superstitions at all times. There were several myths about the moon but recently we disproved it by the ‘Chandrayan’ adventure. Dr. Mayilsamy Annadurai delivered a speech glorifying our rationalism. Most of you must have read about his views.
Long ago, gullible people attached divinity to small pox and chicken pox and were scared even to get drugs injected but Science drove away their fear. Blind belief in possessions and bizarre exorcism have also been thrown overboard by our rationalist outlook.
There are fertility centres almost in every city today, helping childless couples. This can be cited as the latest achievement that has cropped up by man’s reasoning power. In 1938 itself Thanthai Periyar described the marvels of rationalism. You can read it in our book – ‘The World to Come’.
The number of rationalists must grow in leaps and bounds. The print and electronic media must stop superstitious rubbish and encourage rationalism. Let us hope our dream of an absolute rationalist world would come true in forthcoming generations. Thank you.
