Sanal Edamaruku is the head of the Indian Rationalist Association. He is currently in Europe, having left India for Europe, as he faces arrest if he returns to India – with a possible jail sentence of 3 years. Delhi police have already been to his flat with an arrest warrant for Edamaruku while he was in Europe. He is said to have received death threats in India and has sought residency in Finland.
His alleged crime is to have put forward a rational explanation for a weeping statue of Christ in a Catholic church in Mumbai. Locals were declaring it a miracle, with some collecting the holy water and the church being promoted as a site for pilgrimage. Sanal, however, found that far from a miracle, clogged drainage pipes behind the statue were causing the leaking. Not only not a miracle, but also potentially a public health problem as people were drinking the water hoping it could cure illnesses.
Now Sanal faces charges of blasphemy from the High Court of Mumbai. The New Humanist blog reports that three local Mumbai Catholic groups were behind the complaints, including the Mumbai-based Catholic Secular Forum. Its founder Joseph Dias has said that he will drop the complaint in exchange for an apology from Sanal. But an apology for what, exactly? For seeking a rational explanation in place of the ‘miracle’? Not surprisingly, Sanal has refused to apologise, for he does not see that he has done anything wrong.
Sanal Edamaruku is no stranger to controversy in India. Back in 2008, he was a guest on an Indian TV show debating ‘Tantric power vs science’. Pandit Surender Sharma had boasted that he was able to kill anyone with mantras and tantra within three minutes. Sanal challenged him to try to kill him, on TV. Sharma did his best, with millions of viewers glued to the television – but Sanal lived to tell the tale, reportedly laughing throughout the attempted assassination.
In November, Sanal attended an event in London organized by the Rationalist Association and Index on Censorship, in support of him. Also speaking were the philosopher Professor Richard Sorabji and retired Court of Appeal Judge Stephen Sedley. Sedley pointed out that here in the UK, we should not be complacent. We might no longer have the common law offence of blasphemy, but we now have the Racial and Religion Hatred Act 2006. This makes it a criminal act (punishable by up to 7 years in prison or a fine or both) for using threatening words or behaviour, or written material intending to stir up religious hatred – in a public or private place (although s.29J does at least protect freedom of expression).
India today is at least two countries. Anyone who has been there will know the extent that religion permeates the country – a very stark contrast to the secular West, and the very secular UK. It is the birthplace of four major religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. Billionaire business owners and government officials will consult astrologers for auspicious days and good luck. And yet India produces some of the world’s best doctors, scientists and software engineers. There is clearly a tension there, which so far has been largely accommodated within the breadth and pragmatism of India’s religions.
“Explaining these miracles, these holy experiences that people have, is so important for India, to come out of fear,” Sanal explains. “There are two Indias. The modern, progressive India, and the India controlled by holy men, astrologers and tantrics, underpinned by the caste system. The modern India has to win, because an India with a prominent role on the world stage must not be controlled by the forces of reaction. We have to stop it now.” (quoted by New Humanist magazine, Vol.128 Issue 1).
You can support Sanal Edamaruku by signing the online petition:
Petition in support of Sanal Edamaruku
More information and links:
Rationalist International
Sanal Edamaruku blog
No comments:
Post a Comment