India and Rationalism -(Shivangee Acharya)
“They swallow God without thinking,
They swallow country without thinking.
Soon they forget how to think,
They let others think for them.”
Charles Bukowski
Rationalism. What in concise words, can be defined as Rationalism?
There have been many definitions to geometrically phrase this word. Philosophers, intellectuals, social activists, revolutionaries, and many other great men from the annals of history have defined Rationalism in various phrases and sentences, all with varying connotations and conclusions. One of the main intellectuals of the Indian rationalist movement, emeritus professor D. D. Bandiste wrote in his book Understanding Rationalism that “Rationalism is that philosophy of life which is based upon the reasoning faculty of man.”
Numerous philosophers of the past ages and decades such as Plato, Descartes, Spinoza, Liebniz etc. are the flag bearers of this movement that believes in using reason to understand things rather than relying on supernatural beliefs to explain the human mind and circumstances of the world.
India is said to be the land of religion. Max Weber summarized the lives of the Indian people as to be taking place in an ‘enchanted garden of life’ surrounded by charismatic gurus, supernatural beliefs that construct social norms which are cemented by an unbroken belief in magic and as without an escape to the rational perspective of this worldly way of life. But Indian rationalists believe that though the nation has for too long been preoccupied by religion, and unreal and illogical social structures facilitating oppression and inequality, yet it has also been the home to rationalism, atheism, humanism and agnosticism. It has been the land where man thrived for the search of truth, where many schools of various philosophical thoughts have emerged. The Bengal Renaissance is a prominent example of rational, revolutionary and high thinking. Phenomenal literature, music, art, and books were created in this age. This cultural movement initialized a paradigm shift in thoughts of the Indian locale by transferring them from the medieval to the modern. Dowry, sati ritual, patriarchal hegemony, class and caste segregation and oppression was strongly opposed by the proponents of this movement. The movement cannot be called a wholly rationalist movement but it surely did uplift the thought process of the people. From the stories of gods and goddesses, prince and princesses, people were urged to descend to the humble walk of life and to alloy the principles in daily lives. Science and technology moved forwards in leaps and bounds in this era. Jagdish Chandra Bose, Satyendra Nath Bose, Meghnad Saha were prominent scientific personalities of this time. Jawaharlal Nehru, BR Ambedkar, Annie Besant were other prominent rationalist of the modern times. Named after their teacher Henry Louis Vivian Derozia, the Derozians were a group of radical free thinkers who revolted against the oppressive social constructs and irrational beliefs of the conservative society. They came like a wave and put a large section of the society in discomfort and distress.
A major rationalist movement in India is the Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (also known as MANS in Maharashtra). Established in 1980s, Johannes Quack described it as the most important rationalist movement of India in his book Disenchanting India: Organized Rationalism and Criticism of Religion of India. Narayan Dabholkaris the creator of this organization and mass rationalist movement. Its main critical focus was on superstition and the misuse of religion to exploit people. They protested against immersion of idols in water bodies and treating individuals with special mental developments on the ground of supernatural. These were few issues among many others. Many such rationalist movements are still fighting against the powerful current of ignorance and oppression that has pushed the country back by years.
The days now are marked with communal outbreaks, racial oppression, slaughter of human rights and massacre of the intellectual. Politicians use religious sentiments for their own self interests. Instead of anti- poaching bills and laws for conservation of endangered and dying species, the authoritarian power prevailing in the state is implementing laws and passing drafts that will drastically affect the environment and endanger native and tribal populations. Suddenly human and animal lives have started to weigh less than social sentiments. Killing in the name of love jihad, communal riots, a subtle but strong attempt to turn the state into a non-secular one hasn’t gone unnoticed by many. Mass media is no longer a medium of information but a medium for thought manipulation. Communalism has engulfed the minds of people. Politics in the name of false secularism and the loopholes in the system of democracy are taking toll on the economy, education, and prevalence of peace and tranquility in the country. Religion and politics go hand in hand. Vote banks for opposite and contesting political sections are the weapons and cause of social unrest and have degraded the whole system.
Our country is an eclectic mix of different races and religions. Rational thinking is esoteric and only seen in some small proportion of the population. In India we find philosophical freedom on the one side and social ostracism on the other. People would rather kill someone to save their religion than save themselves from letting their humanity die.
“If i have to take police protection in my own country from my own people, then there is something wrong with me, I’m fighting within the framework of the Indian constitution and it is not against anyone, but for everyone.” said Narendra Dabholkar when he was faced with several threats and assaults.Narendra Dabholkar, the creator of MANS was assassinated on 20th August, 2013 by two unidentified gunmen. Such killings are not unheard of when it comes to stopping rational leaders revolutionizing society. Derozia was removed from his position of lectureship because of his rationalist status. People who have gone against social norms and the constant unchanging current of social atrocities have more often than not found themselves in bloody graves.
To attain a full-fledged rational movement, the mass population should be educated and aware. It is not easy to purport a mass organized rationalist movement when ‘unmanned gunmen’ go around killing radical thinkers, but as the old saying goes, “Storms make trees take deeper roots”. As such, only through seeping into young minds and voicing rational thoughts, can this be achieved. Art, culture, books, music, these are tools that mould the human psyche and thoughts. People need to be taught how to think, not what to think. Mass media with zero political inclination that deliver unbiased accounts of incidents will allow people space in their mind to think for themselves.
A question of conundrum is “Will it be possible to create a rational society out of India?”. The sad truth is, most probably not. No society and civilization that has stayed on earth is completely rationalistic. Xenophobia, protectionism, racism, bigotry has been a part of all human civilizations. But there is no dearth of movements and books and art to unlearn and unearth them. The cliched saying “Live, and let live” has been the undertow of all major movements in history, from the feminist suffragette movements to the Pride marches and BLM and Chipko. They have been the channels of our desire to to create a better world and retain our human-ness and our rights as we were born with. Rationalism is more important for the young minds than people realize it is and should be cultivated in the developing minds. A lack of rational thinking will create a world what Orwell described in his ‘1984’ and ‘Animal Farm’ and what Atwood wrote about in her ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. A dystopia and black pit of human rights where the state decides who is worth what.
