Dr. K. Veeramani,
President, Dravidar kahzgam
(The following is the text of the inaugural speech delivered by Asiriyar Dr.K.Veeramani, President, Dravidar Kazhagam, Tamil Nadu through display of video at the 12th World Atheist Conference, Organised by Atheist Centre, Vijayawada, India, on 4th January 2025)
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Positive Atheism and promotion of scientific temper and secularism, are the core subjects on which this conference is to take place. Due to unavoidable circumstances, my commitment to personally appear and address you and to collaborate with you, is being denied. I feel very sorry about it; I tender my apology for my not being physically present, but at the same time I don’t want to miss this great opportunity for expressing our views.
First of all, let me assure, that I am one among you. We are all co-fighters, fellow travelers towards forming a new society which is full of positive atheism which aims at creating an unassailable belief to create a new society of scientific temper and, secular democracy. That is why, we have committed ourselves and we are at the forefront not only to preach but also to practise and collaborate with our family. Now it is a challenging time for all the progressive forces; for all the secular forces. In the olden times of Periyar and Gora, they were the two mighty pillars who led the mass movement. They used to travel widely and inculcate the spirit of rationalism in our people; particularly the spirit of atheism; freeing them and make our people learn them.
Alvin Tofler was a very progressive thinker once said – in the 20th century and in the earlier period, the meaning of the word illiterate was not what it is today. It now differs; now the word “illiterate” means those who do not adapt to the times and those who do not update their knowledge. What exactly is “illiteracy” now? It is not only unlearning but also failing to create a new atmosphere where the questioning even the scientific minded people who have imbibed blind faith are involved in spreading new superstitions. The whole atmosphere is being vitiated by giving a new distorted version because this is an Age where ‘Pseudo Science’ is being confused with genuine ‘Science’; Philosophy is confused with religion.
According to them only religion and the Sanatana is the basic philosophy of our existence. What is the underlying core of the Philosophy? They do not make it clear. Similarly, to cite an example, Astronomy is true Science but Astrology is Pseudo Science. There is no scientific basis for Vastu Shastra. But there are many who proudly call themselves ‘Vastu Specialists’; as if they are true Scientists! This is the present vitiated atmosphere in all respects. We, the atheists, are bold people who have committed ourselves, to humanise the current. That is where our Atheist Centre, the Dravidar Kazhagam, Gora’s Movement, Periyar’s Movement and other rationalist movements of our family members – are all very much committed to eradicate the regressive concepts, but let us not be dejected and feel a sense of despair that we are only a few in number to protest, and that the fanatics are in large numbers. That does not matter at all. A balloon may be large in size but a small pin is enough to prick and deflate it.
These people try to pollute the entire atmosphere by distorted views. They argue that the outdated codes are all permanent and that Sanatana is to stay for ever permanently. If those concepts are applicable to reason, and if they can withstand the test of rationality, we shall welcome them with an open mind. But what is the fact? The believers want to believe blindly without applying their ability to reason. That is the question raised by us but we are prevented from questioning. Nothing is infallible. The basic difference between Science and blind belief; between the scientific and the orthodoxical, lies in this resistance. The orthodox do not want us to question anything. They force us to believe all that they impose on us and threaten us that we would otherwise be condemned to suffer in ‘Hell’. They call us anti-social and say that we would be castaway in society. This is how they hoodwink us. They are not bothered by our protest.
We should stand by our principles at all times. We are ready to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of our principles. We are not for dividing people; we insist on uniting people. The milk of human kindness has to flow at all times everywhere. The society is to exist not in the vortex of dictatorship but in the haven of affection humanism; love, compassion and equality in all respects. Besides sympathy, we should express our empathy towards humankind. That is very important.
Why do these people mistake Atheists as anti-social and anti-national? We atheists are infact pro-humans. We, the people branded Atheists are in no way anti-social. Atheism itself implies questioning spirit. It means, not believing anything blindly without reasoning and questioning. Our do or die spirit may be applicable to soldiers in the war front, but as far as science and medical fields are concerned the question is how to deal with strange diseases. There is a dire need of inventing many more new medicines for cure.
There is nothing called divinity or providence in diseases suffered by people. During the days of COVID-19 pandemic, these blind-believers used to say that the death of innumerable people was an act of god, destiny and fate. They said that everything was pre-determined by the fate of the people who perished. They argued that nothing can ever prevent the act of destiny. But science and medical advancements saved the lives of millions of people. Science proved that diseases like small pox could also be prevented. We did see a world free of small pox. That is the invincible power of Science.
We have been surviving all these years by our scientific outlook and questioning spirit.
The implied concept is Atheism but it is being given various definitions and interpretations in various parts of the country. We are being looked down upon with contempt and ridiculed by the people soaked in superstitious and blind belief. The substance and philosophy of the word Atheism is not mere denial of god’s existence. Atheism is denial of the authority of the Vedas imposed on our people. The opponents of Atheism consider it a cruel concept. They call themselves great thinkers and “big people”. They think they can mould and shape a new society with divine powers. People used to call such thinkers “Gods on the earth”; “walking-talking gods on the earth”; “mobile gods” etc; — There is infact no scarcity of such gods in our society. There are hundreds of types in gods and goddesses generated by these fanatics.
The atrocious thing about their aversion for Atheists is the ill-treatment meted out to people like us. The religious pontiff Kanchi Senior Sankaracharya used to command his disciples not to treat Atheists fairly. He ordered his followers to ignore atheists and keep them at an arm’s distance at all times. How cruel was his command! Is there even an iota of humanism?
The ‘oath of Hippocrates’ must be recalled at this juncture. Doctors take an oath to strive and treat a patient as long as he is alive. Can a doctor give up attending on a patient and refuse treatment saying that his disease is incurable? Can he blame it on fate and destiny? Even if the doctor is a believer of god, could he deny treatment to his patient? But there are people soaked in such follies and many ignorant people are following them.
We, atheists do not have any personal animosity against these believers.
We do not project unreasonable hatred. How many of you can accept the ridiculous theories of such opponents of Atheism? People following Hinduism say that Buddhism, Jainism etc; are part of it. It should be noted that except Buddhism other systems of thought believe in the existence of god. Buddhism long ago firmly denied the existence of god. Buddhists also denied the authority of the Vedas. Buddha used to advise people not to follow blindly the concepts of the ancestors. Just because our forefathers long ago believed in some theory centuries ago, we need not follow them blindly. The great rationalist Buddha used to stress this during his preachings. He was quite right. We must avoid adhering to the advice even if it is from our teachers and masters. We should analyse everything by our free thought and reject if anything seems to be irrational and unacceptable, using our ability to reason. This is very important.
If we are truly interested in the progress of society, our power of questioning should be made use of. Article 51A(h) in our Constitution very clearly says, it is the fundamental duty of every citizen of India to develop scientific temper, spirit of enquiry, reform and the last but not the least, — humanism. What does humanism mean? It implies there should be no differences among people in society. People should have the independence of thinking on their own. The power of progress depends on the power of reasoning. The era of 2G has gone. We live today in an era of Artificial Intelligence. Technological advancement is amazing at present. We would have to ponder over conserving our advanced society. We must strive to protect our advanced society.
The core subject is very important. I would like to highlight it in this conference. Positive atheism was the favourite philosophy of our Gora garu. It is not a negative concept. Dissection is always needed for construction. If we wish to construct something, digging is unavoidable. We have to reach the bottom and begin by laying the foundation for it. We have to destroy completely that which is not wanted. The bushes must be weeded out to proceed. The same move applies even for people. Change is the law of life.
When Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar long ago adumbrated the principle of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, in the preamble of the Constitution of India, most of the people were under the impression that he might have taken those three concepts inspired by the French Revolution of 1789. Ambedkar denied the allegation and said that they were the concepts of Buddha. There are three types of Justice – Economic, Social and Political. Positive Atheism insists on everyone in society getting equal opportunity, along with equality and fraternity. Caste evils such as untouchability, unseeability and unapproachability are all sheer bunk-up. They are shame on our society. Theism divides people. Atheism unites people. The so called gods divide and discriminate. People isolate people saying – “You do not belong to my religion, Stay away!” This is happening all around us today. Even in the so called major religions, there are many branches. You and I are never considered the same. The atrocity of caste comes next. The upper caste people say – “We were born from the head of Brahma. Others were born from shoulders, thighs and the feet of the god.” This crazy division led to graded inequality.
Positive Atheism says – ‘Forget God. Think of Humans.” That was the call let out by Periyar. Denying God may be a negative approach but that is only the face value on the surface. If people analyse the issue deeply, they would get proper answer. But these opponents do not want to dig deeply, analyse or even think reasonably. Positive atheism aims at forming a new society devoid of discriminations. The system of castes born out of Varnasrama dharma is against equality. It denies the downtrodden, opportunities for education, employment and advancement in life. Caste system dehumanises people.
The Centenary of Periyar’s Self-respect Movement is being celebrated this year all over Tamil Nadu. This movement was started in 1925. The prime objective of Periyar was annihilation of castes. This has been the vision and mission of Periyar’s Self-respect Movement. If castes are annihilated, untouchability and other prohibitions would also automatically end. If the ‘toxic roots’ are uprooted, a new society would spontaneously be formed. Hence, we must all approach people with empathy and strive to achieve this objective. Getting along with all people without any discrimination is the bedrock of positive atheism. It insists on co-operation and collaboration in society. We are all one single family of humankind.
We are all social animals. We should use our sixth sense at all times and fight to form a new casteless world. This conference is being held at the right time. We have to face patent as well as latent challenges. We have to fight to the core. Do not get discouraged by the quantity of our like-minded people. Achievement depends on the quality of our struggle. Scientists and Nobel laureates are also a few in number; quite meagre. We are also less in number. That does not mean that we are minorities.
Scientific temper is indispensable. All superstitions would fade away through this temper. Because of the spirit of enquiry we are able to enjoy all the scientific inventions. But they are being misused in our country to perpetuate ignorance. Scholarly explanations are given for outdated philosophies. We must put an end to all these misuse. Secularism is also the dire need of the hour to face challenges before us.
My dear atheist friends, let us wave high the flag of atheism and fight collectively to form a new world. Principles would never die. We shall never fail. Let us all make the dreams of stalwarts like Periyar and Gora come true. We assure our patronage to all of you. By unity and solidarity we can achieve all our objectives. I wish the conference a grand success. Thank you.
