 Promoting Science, Freethought and Secular Humanism in India | |
| Available in | English |
|---|---|
| URL | nirmukta.com |
| Registration | Optional |
| Launched | 12 September 2008 |
| Current status | Active |
Nirmukta is an online community and website in India founded in 2008 that promotes scientific temper, rational thinking and secular humanism.[1][2][3] Nirmukta means "liberated" in Sanskrit.[4]
History and work edit
Nirmukta was founded in 2008 by evolutionary biologist Ajita Kamal[5]. It was originally a website and by 2012 it had become an organization with regional groups in 8 major Indian cities, including Bangalore, Delhi and Chennai.[6][7][8][9][10][11] The online forum Indian Atheists, which has more than 37,000 followers on Facebook, started as an activist arm of Nirmukta.[12] Because of recent attack on atheists in India[13], the organization adopts strict checks before allowing new members.
Nirmukta regularly conducts workshops in collaboration with other rationalist organizations to promote scientific temper and create awareness about pseudosciences.[2][14][15] The organization also has a blog on the Freethought Blogs network, which was co-founded by PZ Myers.
In May 2011, Nirmukta hosted rationalist Narendra Nayak's challenge to Indian astrologers to predict the 2011 election.[16] Nayak is a regular contributor to the website.[4] Among the other regular contributors are Srinivas Kakkilaya and Dr. Vinod Kumar Wadhawan, a Raja Ramanna fellow at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. In October 2011, Nirmukta organized an Eye donation campaign and has been running an organ donation drive on it's website. [17][18] It also organized a "Hug an Atheist Day" event in India on 7 June 2013.[19][20][21] It has also been participating in Pride marches in those cities. [22][23][24]
When Nirmukta's founder Ajita Kamal died in January 2012, PZ Meyers wrote that Kamal was " a leading promoter of science and freethought in India."[25]
Unethical Practices edit
The articles in the Nirmukta Website are written by people in a manner which seems to be heavily biased towards what the author "believes" but without any reasoning or logical discussions about the opposite points of view.
Moreover, if anybody wrote any comment in the comments sections with an opposite points of view, the commentators are called names such as liars etc,. These kind of unethical practices shuts down any meaningful debate on the Nirmukta site.
Any comments of the opposing views are heavily moderated and usually the said commentators are blocked from posting again and their comments deleted.
One example being an article about Yoga ((http://nirmukta.com/2015/06/19/no-yoga-does-not-cure-any-disease/) where the author with a medical "degree" flip-flops in the comments section when commentators pointed out his heavy bias against Yoga without practicing it, even though he claims to refer research papers. His whole premise of referring to research papers fell apart when somebody pointed out a Harvard University article which details the usefulness of Yoga to treat anxiety and depression. There is no reply from the learned Doctor till today. This episode alone shows how biased and useless the whole site is except to feel self satisfied about the "rational" thoughts the website owners have. The Harvard University article is this: http://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/yoga-for-anxiety-and-depression
Moreover, one only need to see the comments by a namesake Captain Mandrake to come to a conclusion that the Nirmukta site is not for free thought but serve the huge egos of the website owners and their followers.
Positions edit
The organization supports social justice movements like feminism, LGBT rights, and rights of people with disabilities and has a zero-tolerance policy against harrassment. They have also taken a strong stand against the caste system.[26][27]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ joanna, sugden (Jun 12, 2012). "What do Indian Atheists think". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
- ^ a b "In celebration of scientific temper". The Hindu. 15 February 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
- ^ "Trending: #Trolls". The Hindu. 21 September 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
- ^ a b Johannes Quack (22 November 2011). Disenchanting India: Organized Rationalism and Criticism of Religion in India. Oxford University Press. p. 339. ISBN 978-0-19-981260-8.
- ^ "Free thinking to trounce patriarchy". The New Indian Express. 24 January 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
- ^ Neha Bhayana (21 May 2011). "Godless and Loving it". Times Crest. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
- ^ Ankur Pandey (9 March 2009). "Join the rationalists online or over chai". The Hindu. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
- ^ "Indian atheists seek recognition in the land of a million gods". The Times of India. 30 June 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
- ^ "Atheism in the land of a thousand gods". GlobalPost. 30 June 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
- ^ "Church of the non-believer". DNA India. 4 August 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
- ^ Nirmukta Regional Groups. Nirmukta, seen on 5 February 2015
- ^ Poulomi Banerjee, No moral policing, no communal violence, please: We are Indians. Hindustan Times, 4 January 2015
- ^ "Rationalist Dabholkar shot dead". The Hindu. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
- ^ "Rationalists strike back, all set to nail the facade of 'religious magic'". DNA India. 8 February 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
- ^ "Rationalist does 'miracles'". Deccan Herald. 4 December 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
- ^ "Predict election results, win Rs. 10 lakh". The Hindu. 6 May 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
- ^ "Eye Donation Camp".
- ^ "Organ Donation Drive".
- ^ "Think free and hug an atheist this Friday". DNA India. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
- ^ Sara, Nelson (6 June 2013). "Hug An Atheist Day 2013". huffingtonpost.
- ^ Janane, Venkatraman (7 June 2013). "Give the atheist closest to you a hug". newindianexpress.
- ^ "Bangalore Pride Walk 2013".
- ^ "Somewhere over the rainbows(Mumbai pride march)".
- ^ "Chennai pride march 2014".
- ^ Ajita Kamal has died, Pharyngula, 9 January 2012
- ^ Neha, Bhayana (Mar 15, 2015). "Not scared of god but man". times of India. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
- ^ "Nirmukta anti harrassment policy". Retrieved 7 May 2015.
Category:Indian websites Category:Indian rationalist groups Category:Freethought