Maharashtra Foundation (http://www.maharashtrafoundation.org/) facilitated a fascinating event in suburban New Jersey - a mixed audience of people ranging from rationalists to the religious - to meet Dr. Hamid Dabholkar, one of the leaders and State Chief Secretaries of Maharashtra Andhashraddhaa Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS) (http://antisuperstition.org), translated loosely as the blind faith eradication society of Maharashtra.
Dr. Dabholkar explained the mission of MANS as the elimination of the exploitation of a superstitious society by individuals posing as god(wo)men. Additionally, MANS has also undertaken the challenge of social injustices arising out of the decisions of caste-based local governments. The MANS cause is executed by a grass-roots organization that is a few-thousand-strong volunteers, with local chapters spread across the state. MANS has steered clear of political, religious, and NGO forces, and has taken on challenges that few individuals and organizations dare to touch.
The rationalist movement is not new - Dr. Abraham Kovoor (1898-1978) helped expose several godmen and occult practices in the 20th Century. Needless to say, such efforts meet with significant overt and covert resistance from vested interests. MANS has had its more than fair share of this resistance and lost their founder, Dr. Narendra Dabholkar, to an assassination in 2013. MANS has succeeded in increasing their momentum since this tragedy and also pressuring the state government to pass an anti-superstition law.
For some of us rationalism purists, it was interesting to note the strategy of co-existence with organized religion that MANS has adopted, and also used the platform of an annual religious festival to further their cause. And, that is where MANS seems to loosely distinguish between faith and blind faith - a distinction that some of us do not understand!
What was also discussed is the misconception that society at large has about MANS, their constitution and motives. Sometimes, MANS is perceived as a leftist political organization, which it is not. It is no coincidence that people who have overcome the baggage of theism from the reasoning paradigm also happen to belong to leftist political organizations. Sometimes, MANS is perceived as anti-religious and also agents of "the other" religion. Despite the media coverage that MANS receives for their godmen-exposing efforts on an almost daily basis, the perceptions continue, and the white-collar living rooms exhibit bystander apathy. The fear of retribution from the dogmatic organizations could also be a factor that precludes active participation from more open-minded people in this initiative.
It was also discussed that bigotry and superstition is not only an issue found among the tribals or the uneducated, but pervades the Indian society as a whole, with polarization having significantly increased in recent decades.
All said, the evening with Dr. Hamid Dabholkar definitely helped increase awareness of this heard-about-but-not-known-closely organization. It also helped many of us debunk the "I am not alone in the universe" myth!
Dr. Dabholkar explained the mission of MANS as the elimination of the exploitation of a superstitious society by individuals posing as god(wo)men. Additionally, MANS has also undertaken the challenge of social injustices arising out of the decisions of caste-based local governments. The MANS cause is executed by a grass-roots organization that is a few-thousand-strong volunteers, with local chapters spread across the state. MANS has steered clear of political, religious, and NGO forces, and has taken on challenges that few individuals and organizations dare to touch.
The rationalist movement is not new - Dr. Abraham Kovoor (1898-1978) helped expose several godmen and occult practices in the 20th Century. Needless to say, such efforts meet with significant overt and covert resistance from vested interests. MANS has had its more than fair share of this resistance and lost their founder, Dr. Narendra Dabholkar, to an assassination in 2013. MANS has succeeded in increasing their momentum since this tragedy and also pressuring the state government to pass an anti-superstition law.
For some of us rationalism purists, it was interesting to note the strategy of co-existence with organized religion that MANS has adopted, and also used the platform of an annual religious festival to further their cause. And, that is where MANS seems to loosely distinguish between faith and blind faith - a distinction that some of us do not understand!
What was also discussed is the misconception that society at large has about MANS, their constitution and motives. Sometimes, MANS is perceived as a leftist political organization, which it is not. It is no coincidence that people who have overcome the baggage of theism from the reasoning paradigm also happen to belong to leftist political organizations. Sometimes, MANS is perceived as anti-religious and also agents of "the other" religion. Despite the media coverage that MANS receives for their godmen-exposing efforts on an almost daily basis, the perceptions continue, and the white-collar living rooms exhibit bystander apathy. The fear of retribution from the dogmatic organizations could also be a factor that precludes active participation from more open-minded people in this initiative.
It was also discussed that bigotry and superstition is not only an issue found among the tribals or the uneducated, but pervades the Indian society as a whole, with polarization having significantly increased in recent decades.
All said, the evening with Dr. Hamid Dabholkar definitely helped increase awareness of this heard-about-but-not-known-closely organization. It also helped many of us debunk the "I am not alone in the universe" myth!
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