The Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations (FIRA) is an umbrella body of 83 (as of 2012) rationalist,

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

skeptic Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...

secularist Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a sim ...

and

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...

organisations in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. As an apex body of rationalist organisations, it is committed to the development of scientific temper and

humanism Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...

in India, involved in promoting tolerance,

critical thinking Critical thinking is the analysis of available facts, evidence, observations, and arguments to form a judgement. The subject is complex; several different definitions exist, which generally include the rational, skeptical, and unbiased analysis ...

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

secularization In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...

, and

freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...

, and fighting against the

caste system Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

and

violence Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or Power (social and p ...

(especially towards Dalit population),

superstition A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly applied to beliefs and ...

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or falsifiability, unfa ...

, and

child marriage Child marriage is a marriage or similar union, formal or informal, between a child under a certain age – typically 18 years – and an adult or another child. * * * * The vast majority of child marriages are between a female child and a ma ...

History

The Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations was launched on 7 February 1997 following the 10th Kerala State Conference of

Kerala Yukthivadi Sangham Kerala Yukthivadi Sangham (KYS, ) is a rationalist organization based in Kerala, India. The organization says it stands for rationalism and humanism. It is the initiator of the umbrella organization for rationalism and humanism, Federation of ...

. The stated purpose of the organization is to coordinate the activities of the member organizations at the national level.

Basava Premanand Basava Premanand (17 February 1930 – 4 October 2009) was an Indian skeptic and rationalist from Kerala, India. He organised many tours around rural India for the promotion of scientific thinking, exposing alleged miracles and scams carried o ...

is the founder of the FIRA who died on 4 October 2009. Shortly before his death, Premanand put out a statement declaring his commitment to rationalism to prevent false rumors that he had turned to god on his deathbed. In 2004, Premanand put forth a proposal for

Narendra Nayak Narendra Nayak (born 5 February 1951) is a rationalist, sceptic, and godman debunker from Mangalore, Karnataka, India.Nayak is the current president of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations (FIRA). He founded the Dakshina Kannada ...

to become president of FIRA at a general body meeting held at Bhatinda, Punjab. It was unanimously accepted. Premanand and Nayak met in 1980 or 1981 when Nayak was the secretary of

Dakshina Kannada Rationalist Association Dakshina Kannada Rationalist Association (DKRA) is a well known rationalist group based in Mangalore, Karnataka, which promotes skepticism. It was formed in 1976 at the initiative of a few individuals led by Narendra Nayak. DKRA, now a member of ...

. U. Kalanathan of Kerala Yukthivadi Sangham is the current General Secretary of the organization. FIRA has grown from about 50 organizations in 2005 to 83 organizations in 2012.

Affiliation to IHEU

FIRA is affiliated to

International Humanist and Ethical Union Humanists International (known as the International Humanist and Ethical Union, or IHEU, from 1952–2019) is an international non-governmental organisation championing secularism and human rights, motivated by secular humanist values. Found ...

and supports minimum statement on Humanism (as required by IHEU bylaw 5.1) and the

Amsterdam Declaration 2002 The Amsterdam Declaration 2002 is a statement of the fundamental principles of modern Humanism passed unanimously by the General Assembly of Humanists International (HI) at the 50th anniversary World Humanist Congress in 2002. According to HI, the ...

Minimum statement

"Humanism is a democratic and ethical life stance, which affirms that human beings have the right and responsibility to give meaning and shape to their own lives. It stands for the building of a more humane society through an ethic based on human and other natural values in the spirit of reason and free inquiry through human capabilities. It is not theistic, and it does not accept supernatural views of reality."

FIRA member organisations

National conferences

FIRA has so far convened twelve national conferences: #

Palakkad Palakkad (), formerly known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the Palakkad District. Palakkad is most densely populated municipal ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

: 7 February 1997 #

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

: 21 & 22 March 1998 #

Coimbatore Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

: 7, 8 & 9 December 2001 #

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ker ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

: 10 & 11 May 2003 #

Bhatinda Bathinda is a city and municipal corporation in Punjab, India. The city is the administrative headquarters of Bathinda District. It is located in northwestern India in the Malwa Region, west of the capital city of Chandigarh and is the fifth l ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

: 2, 3 & 4 April 2004 #

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

: 28 & 29 April 2007 #

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

: 26 & 27 December 2009 #

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nag ...

: 11 & 12 February 2012 #

Brahmapur, Odisha Brahmapur (; also known as Berhampur) is a city on the eastern coastline of Ganjam district of the Indian state of Odisha. Bramhapur is most famous for its street food, silk sarees or pato sarees, temples and many historical places. Bramhapur al ...

: 24 & 25 December 2014 #

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

: 24 & 25 February 2017 #

Visakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura (S20), INS ...

: 5 & 6 January 2019 #

Barnala Barnala is a city in the state of Punjab of India. Barnala city serves as the headquarters of the Barnala district which was formed in 2006. Prior to formation of Barnala district, this city was located in Sangrur district. It is situated ne ...

: 29 & 30 October 2022 FIRA CONFERENCE - NAGPUR-2.jpg, Delegates of 8th National Conference of FIRA held in

Exposing Miracles - FIRA CONFERENCE - NAGPUR.JPG, A delegate exposing a so-called 'miracle' of eating fire at the 8th FIRA conference in

FIRA CONFERENCE - NAGPUR-1.JPG, Banner for 8th FIRA National Conference FIRA CONFERENCE - NAGPUR- inauguration.JPG, Dr Vilas Sapkal, vice chancellor,

Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU), formerly Nagpur University, is a public state university located in Nagpur, Maharashtra. It is one of India's oldest universities, as well as the second oldest in Maharashtra. It is named a ...

, inaugurating the 8th National Conference of FIRA held in

by cutting a string of seven chilies and a lemon, a charm commonly used by Hindus to ward off evil

Targeted attacks on rationalists

Although India is a secular democracy,

blasphemy laws A blasphemy law is a law prohibiting blasphemy, which is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence to a deity, or sacred objects, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. According to Pew Research Center, about ...

are still enforced under the Indian penal code and threats of violence are common for members of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations. Secular organizations such as FIRA have received pushback and protest from far-right groups. In 2017,

Gauri Lankesh Gauri Lankesh (29 January 1962 – 5 September 2017) was an Indian activist and former journalist from Bangalore, Karnataka. She worked as an editor in '' Lankesh Patrike'', a Kannada weekly started by her father P. Lankesh, and ran her own we ...

was assassinated by an unknown terrorist in her home. She was a journalist and rationalist. She was outspoken against

Hindutva Hindutva () is the predominant form of Hindu nationalism in India. The term was formulated as a political ideology by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1923. It is used by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), the ...

, a right-wing Indian nationalist movement. The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' states that the Hindutva is "associated with activities ranging from lynchings, riots, and bomb blasts to threats of rape, dismemberment, incarceration, and hanging of people critical of them and their sectarian idea of India."

of FIRA, along with many other international skeptical organizations, condemned the assassination of Gauri Lankesh in a CFI press release stating, "as a fellow member on the hit list of these organizations, I feel sad that I have lost a good friend and a supporter. She was one of those who was not afraid to speak her mind on any issue which she felt was important."

Narendra Dabholkar Narendra Achyut Dabholkar (1 November 1945 – 20 August 2013) was an Indian physician, social activist, rationalist and author from Maharashtra, India. In 1989 he founded and became president of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti ...

of the

Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (MANS; or Committee for Eradication of Blind Faith, CEBF) is an organisation dedicated to fighting superstition in India, particularly in the state of Maharashtra. It was founded by Narendra Dabholkar i ...

(MANS) was assassinated by gun shot on 20 August 2013 in

Pune, Maharashtra Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

. The assassination followed the introduction of the Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Bill which was deemed "anti-Hindu" by far-right groups. In 2018, Dr. Shantanu Abhyankar, President, Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, presented at

CSICon CSICon or CSIConference is an annual list of skeptical conferences, skeptical conference typically held in the United States. CSICon is hosted by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), which is a program of the Center for Inquiry (CFI). CSI p ...

discussing the Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Bill.

References

External links

Report on 8th National Conference of FIRA held in Nagpur in February 2012

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20040117113327/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/yw/2003/05/31/stories/2003053100110300.htm Report on Fourth National Conference of FIRA in ''The Hindu''
Fighting for Separation of Religion and State in India
:

IHEU Humanists International (known as the International Humanist and Ethical Union, or IHEU, from 1952–2019) is an international non-governmental organisation championing secularism and human rights, motivated by secular humanist values. Found ...

report on the demonstration organized by ''FIRA'' in support of

Secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...

on Parliament Street in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

.
Humanism in India today
IHEU report

: A brief report in ''The Tribune'',

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...

, on the demonstration organized by ''FIRA'' in support of

on Parliament Street in

Rationalists target yoga, spirituality, Art of Living
: Report in

Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

on the 6th National Conference of FIRA (Accessed on 2 May 2007)
Carvaka4India.com

RationalThoughts.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Federation Of Indian Rationalist Associations Rationalist groups based in India Organizations established in 1997 Secularism in India