According to the

2011 Census of India The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...

, around 2.9 million people in India did not state their religion in the 2001 census and were counted in the "religion not stated". They were 0.24% of India's population. Their number have significantly increased 4 times from 0.7 million in 2001 census at an average annual rate of 15%. Percentages are calculated from population figures for individual religions in this word document by dividing them from total population of India. According to the 2012 WIN-Gallup Global Index of Religion and Atheism report, 81% of Indians were religious, 13% were non-religious, 3% were convinced atheists, and 3% were unsure or did not respond. While a demographic study by Cambridge University Press in 2004, have found that there are 102.87 million atheists and agnostics living in India, thus constituting 9.1% of the total population, out of total 1.1296 billion people respectively.

Atheism 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 d ...

and

agnosticism Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...

have a long history in India and flourished within the Śramaṇa movement. Indian religions like Jainism, Hinduism and Buddhism consider atheism to be acceptable. India has produced some notable atheist politicians and social reformers.

History

Ancient India

Several ''śramaṇa'' movements are known to have existed in India before the 6th century BCE (pre-Buddha, pre-Mahavira), and these influenced both the

āstika and nāstika ''Āstika'' and ''nāstika'' are concepts that have been used to classify Indian philosophies by modern scholars, as well as some Hindu, Buddhist and Jain texts. The various definitions for ''āstika'' and ''nāstika'' philosophies have bee ...

traditions of Indian philosophy. Martin Wiltshire states that the Śramaṇa tradition evolved in India over two phases, namely Paccekabuddha and Savaka phases, the former being the tradition of individual ascetic and latter of disciples, and that Buddhism and Jainism ultimately emerged from these as sectarian manifestations. These traditions drew upon already established Brahmanical concepts, states Wiltshire, to formulate their own doctrines. Reginald Ray concurs that Śramaṇa movements already existed and were established traditions in pre-6th century BCE India, but disagrees with Wiltshire that they were nonsectarian before the arrival of Buddha.

Schools of Philosophy

In Indian philosophy, there are six major orthodox ('' astika'') schools of Hindu philosophy—

Nyaya (Sanskrit: न्याय, ''nyā-yá''), literally meaning "justice", "rules", "method" or "judgment",Vaisheshika,

Samkhya ''Samkhya'' or ''Sankya'' (; Sanskrit सांख्य), IAST: ') is a Dualism (Indian philosophy), dualistic Āstika and nāstika, school of Indian philosophy. It views reality as composed of two independent principles, ''purusha, puruṣa' ...

, Yoga,

Mīmāṃsā ''Mīmāṁsā'' (Sanskrit: मीमांसा) is a Sanskrit word that means "reflection" or "critical investigation" and thus refers to a tradition of contemplation which reflected on the meanings of certain Vedic texts.

and Vedanta, and five major heterodox ( nāstika) schools of Śramaṇa — Jain, Buddhist, Ajivika,

Ajñana ''Ajñāna'' () was one of the ''nāstika'' or "heterodox" schools of ancient Indian philosophy, and the ancient school of radical Indian skepticism. It was a Śramaṇa movement and a major rival of early Buddhism, Jainism and the Ājīvika ...

, and

Cārvāka Charvaka ( sa, चार्वाक; IAST: ''Cārvāka''), also known as ''Lokāyata'', is an ancient school of Indian materialism. Charvaka holds direct perception, empiricism, and conditional inference as proper sources of knowledge, embrace ...

. The four most studied Nāstika schools, those rejecting the doctrine of Vedas, are Jainism, Buddhism,

, and Ājīvika.

=Charvaka

= The ''Cārvāka'' school originated in India around the 6th century BCE. It is classified as a '' nāstika'' school. It is noteworthy as evidence of a

materialistic Materialism is the view that the universe consists only of organized matter and energy. Materialism or materialist may also refer to: * Economic materialism, the desire to accumulate material goods * Christian materialism, the combination of Chris ...

movement in ancient India. Followers of this school only accepted ''pratyakşa'' (perception) as a valid ''pramāna'' (evidence). They considered other ''pramāna'' like ''sabda'' (testimony), ''upamāna'' (analogy), and ''anumāna'' (inference) as unreliable. Thus, the existence of a soul (''ātman'') and God were rejected, because they could not be proved by perception. They also considered everything to be made of four

elements Element or elements may refer to: Science * Chemical element, a pure substance of one type of atom * Heating element, a device that generates heat by electrical resistance * Orbital elements, parameters required to identify a specific orbit of ...

: earth, water, air and fire. The Cārvāka pursued enjoyment of life and elimination of physical pain. So, they can be considered hedonistic. All of the original Cārvāka texts are considered lost. A much quoted '' sūtra'' ( Barhaspatya sutras) by Brhaspati, who is considered the founder of the school, is thought to be lost. The ''Tattvopaplavasimha'' by

Jayarāśi Bhaṭṭa (fl. c. 800) was an Indian philosopher known for his radical skepticism who most likely flourished between 800-840 probably in southern India. He was the author of one of the most extraordinary philosophical work in Indian history, the ''Tattvopapl ...

(8th century CE) and the ''Sarvadarśanasaṅ̇graha'' by

Madhavacarya Vidyaranya (IAST: Vidyāraṇya), usually identified with Mādhavācharya (not to be confused with Madhvāchārya (13th c.)), was Jagadguru of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham from ca. 1374-1380 until 1386 - according to tradition, after ordinati ...

(13th century) are considered important secondary Cārvāka texts.

=Samkhya

= ''Sāṃkhya'' is an ''āstika'' school, but has some atheistic elements. Sāṃkhya is a radically

dualist Dualism most commonly refers to: * Mind–body dualism, a philosophical view which holds that mental phenomena are, at least in certain respects, not physical phenomena, or that the mind and the body are distinct and separable from one another ** ...

philosophy. They believed that the two ontological principles, ''puruṣa'' (consciousness) and ''prakriti'' (matter), to be the underlying foundation of the universe. The objective of life is considered the achievement of separation of pure consciousness from matter ('' kaivalya''). The reasoning within this system led to the ''Nir-isvara Sāṃkhya'' (''Sāṃkhya'' without God) philosophy, which deemed the existence of God as unnecessary. There is the opposing reasoning which accepts God, called ''Sesvara Sankhya'' (''Sāṃkhya'' with God). ''

Samkhya Karika The Samkhyakarika ( sa, सांख्यकारिका, ) is the earliest surviving text of the Samkhya school of Indian philosophy.Gerald James Larson (1998), Classical Sāṃkhya: An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning, Motilal Banar ...

'' (c. 350 CE) is the earliest known systematic text of this philosophy.

=Mīmāṃsā

= ''

'' (meaning exegesis) is also an ''astika'' school. They believed the Vedas to be author-less and self-authenticating. They did not accept the Vedas as being composed by any '' ṛishi'' (saint), they considered them to not be authored by anyone (''apauruṣeya''). They accepted the minor deities of the Vedas but resisted any notion of a Supreme Creator. They only concentrated on upholding the ''

ṛta In the Vedic religion, ''Ṛta'' (; Sanskrit ' "order, rule; truth") is the principle of natural order which regulates and coordinates the operation of the universe and everything within it. In the hymns of the Vedas, ''Ṛta'' is described as ...

'' (order) by following the duties of the Vedas. The foundational text of this school is the ''Mīmāṃsā Sutra'' by Jaimini (c. 200 BCE - 200 CE).

=Ājīvika

= '' Ājīvika'' is yet another ''nastika'' school with an atheistic outlook. None of their scriptures survive and there is some question as to whether or not the accounts of them in secondary sources (often hostile) are accurate. They believed in a naturalistic atomic theory and held that the consequence of natural laws led to a deterministic universe. They denied karma, but upheld the

atman Atman or Ātman may refer to: Film * ''Ātman'' (1975 film), a Japanese experimental short film directed by Toshio Matsumoto * ''Atman'' (1997 film), a documentary film directed by Pirjo Honkasalo People * Pavel Atman (born 1987), Russian hand ...

. They lived in ascetic communities and existed in southern India until at least the 14th century.

=Buddhism and Jainism

= Jainism rejects the idea of a creator deity responsible for the manifestation, creation, or maintenance of this universe. According to Jain doctrine, the universe and its constituents (soul, matter, space, time, and principles of motion) have always existed. All the constituents and actions are governed by universal natural laws and an immaterial entity like God cannot create a material entity like the universe. Jainism offers an elaborate cosmology, including heavenly beings (devas), but these beings are not viewed as creators; they are subject to suffering and change like all other living beings, and must eventually die. Jains define godliness as the inherent quality of any soul characterising infinite bliss, infinite power, Kevala Jnana (pure infinite knowledge) and Perfect peace. However, these qualities of a soul are subdued due to

karmas Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptivel ...

of the soul. One who achieves this state of soul through right belief, right knowledge and right conduct can be termed a god. This perfection of soul is called kevalin. A soul thus becomes a liberated soul – liberated of miseries, cycles of rebirth, world, karmas and finally liberated of body as well. This is called moksha. Gautama Buddha rejected the existence of a creator deity, refused to endorse many views on creation and stated that questions on the origin of the world are not ultimately useful for ending

suffering Suffering, or pain in a broad sense, may be an experience of unpleasantness or aversion, possibly associated with the perception of harm or threat of harm in an individual. Suffering is the basic element that makes up the negative valence of a ...

. Buddhism instead emphasises the system of causal relationships underlying the universe,

pratītyasamutpāda ''Pratītyasamutpāda'' (Sanskrit: प्रतीत्यसमुत्पाद, Pāli: ''paṭiccasamuppāda''), commonly translated as dependent origination, or dependent arising, is a key doctrine in Buddhism shared by all schools of ...

, which constitute the dhamma and source of enlightenment. No dependence of phenomena on a supernatural reality is asserted in order to explain the behaviour of matter.

Philosophers and ancient texts

Ajita Kesakambali was a

materialist Materialism is a form of philosophical monism which holds matter to be the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical materialis ...

philosopher. He is mentioned in the '' Samaññaphala Sutta''. He rejected gods, an afterlife and karma. Payasi is a character, referred to as a prince, who appears in the Buddhist text '' Digha Nikaya'' in the ''Payasi Sutta''. He didn't believe in rebirth or karma. He debated Kassapa, a disciple of Buddha, and lost according to Buddhist sources.

=Jabali's speech from the Ramayana

= In the Hindu epic '' Ramayana'' (''Ayodhya Khanda''), when Bharata goes to the forest to convince Rama to return home, he was accompanied by a sophist called Jabali (""). Jabali uses

nihilistic Nihilism (; ) is a philosophy, or family of views within philosophy, that rejects generally accepted or fundamental aspects of human existence, such as objective truth, knowledge, morality, values, or meaning of life, meaning. The term was pop ...

reasoning to convince Rama. He also says that rituals are a waste of food and scriptures were written by smart men so that people will give alms. But Rama calls him a deviant from the path of ''

dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

'' (""), refuses to accept his "''nastika''" views and blame his own father for taking Jabali into service. He also equates the Buddha to a thief. On hearing Rama's retort, Jabali retracts his statements, saying that he was merely arguing like a nihilist. However, these verses referring to the Buddha are considered a later

interpolation In the mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a type of estimation, a method of constructing (finding) new data points based on the range of a discrete set of known data points. In engineering and science, one often has a n ...

, as those verses use a different metre.

=The Carvaka incident in the Mahabharata

= A character described as a Carvaka briefly appears in the '' Mahabharata'' (in the '' Shanti Parva''). As Yudhishthira enters the city of Hastinapur, a brahmin, referred to as Carvaka, accuses him of killing his own kinsmen and says that he would suffer for it. The accuser is revealed to a '' rakshasa'' in disguise, who was a friend of

Duryodhana Duryodhana ( sa, दुर्योधन, ) also known as Suyodhana, is the primary antagonist in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata.'' He was the eldest of the Kauravas, the hundred sons of the blind king Dhritarashtra and his queen Gandhari. Being ...

. He had existed since the Satya Yuga by virtue of a boon from the god Brahma, that he could only be killed when he is showing contempt towards brahmins. He was killed by other brahmins by the chanting of sacred hymns and Yudhishthira was assured that his actions were within the kshatriya code. This event may be a possible denigration of the Carvaka philosophy.

Medieval India

In the 9th century CE, Jain philosopher Jinasena wrote the Mahapurana. The book contains the following often quoted words, This quote was also featured later in

Carl Sagan Carl Edward Sagan (; ; November 9, 1934December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, and science communicator. His best known scientific contribution is research on ext ...

's book, Cosmos. In the 14th century, philosopher Madhavacarya wrote the ''Sarvadarśanasaṅ̇graha'', which is a compilation of all Indian philosophies, including ''Carvaka'', which is described in the first chapter.

Modern India

19th century

Between 1882 and 1888, the Madras Secular Society published a magazine called ''The Thinker'' (''Tattuvavivesini'' in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

) from

Madras 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 ...

. The magazine carried articles written by anonymous writers and republished articles from the journal of the London Secular Society, which the Madras Secular Society considered itself affiliated to.

20th century

Periyar E. V. Ramasamy Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 1879 – 24 December 1973), revered as Periyar or Thanthai Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. He is known as the 'Fa ...

(1879 - 1973) was an atheist and rationalist leader of Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. His views on irreligion are based on the eradication of the caste system, religion must be denied to achieve the obliteration of caste system. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (1883 –1966) was an eminent Hindu nationalist leader of the Indian independence movement. He was also an atheist and a staunch rationalist who disapproved of orthodox

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

belief, dismissing cow worship as superstitious. Being Hindu, for him, was a cultural and political identity. Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964), India's first Prime Minister was a Hindu agnostic and a self-styled scientific humanist. He wrote in his

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

, '' Toward Freedom'' (1936), about his views on religion and superstition. Meghnad Saha (1893 – 1956) was an atheist astrophysicist best known for his development of the Saha equation, used to describe chemical and physical conditions in stars. Bhagat Singh (1907-1931), an Indian revolutionary and socialist nationalist who was hanged for using violence against British government officials, was a staunch atheist. He laid out his views in the essay

Why I Am an Atheist ''Why I Am an Atheist'' is an essay written by Indian revolutionary Bhagat Singh in 1930 in Lahore Central Jail. The essay was a reply to his religious friends who thought Bhagat Singh became an atheist because of his vanity. Background Bhag ...

, written in jail shortly before his execution. Goparaju Ramachandra Rao (1902-1975), better known by his

nom de guerre A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

"Gora," was a social reformer, anti-caste activist, atheist and desciple of Mahatma Gandhi. He and his wife,

Saraswathi Gora Saraswathi Gora (28 September 1912 – 19 August 2006) was an Indian social activist who served as leader of the Atheist Centre for many years, campaigning against untouchability and the caste system. Biography In the 1930s, Saraswathi cham ...

(1912-2007) who was also an atheist and social reformer, founded the

Atheist Centre The Atheist Centre is an institution founded by Goparaju Ramachandra Rao (aka Gora, 1902–1975) and Saraswathi Gora (1912–2006) to initiate social change in rural Andhra Pradesh based on the ideology of Gandhism and Atheism. Founded in 1940 ...

in 1940. The Atheist Centre is an institute working for social change. Gora expounded his philosophy of positive atheism as a way of life. He later wrote more about positive atheism in his 1972 book, ''Positive Atheism''. Gora also organised the first World Atheist Conference in 1972. Subsequently, the Atheist Centre has organised several World Atheist Conferences in Vijayawada and other locations. Khushwant Singh (1915-2014), a prominent and prolific writer, of Sikh extraction, was avowedly non-religious. In 1997, the

Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations The Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations (FIRA) is an umbrella body of 83 (as of 2012) rationalist, atheist, skeptic, secularist and scientist organisations in India. As an apex body of rationalist organisations, it is committed to ...

was founded.

21st century

Amartya Sen (1933-), an Indian economist, philosopher and

Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make out ...

, is an atheist and he holds that this can be associated with one of the atheist schools in Hinduism, the

Lokayata Charvaka ( sa, चार्वाक; IAST: ''Cārvāka''), also known as ''Lokāyata'', is an ancient school of Indian materialism. Charvaka holds direct perception, empiricism, and conditional inference as proper sources of knowledge, embrace ...

Sunday Sapiens Sunday is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. In most Western countries, Sunday is a day of rest and a part of the Workweek and weekend, weekend. It is often considered the first day of the week. For most observant adherents of C ...

, the successor of Maharashtra Rationalist Association, is actively involved in developing scientific temper and eradicating superstition. In 2008, the website Nirmukta was founded. It later became an organisation aiming to promote

free thought Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and that beliefs should instead be reached by other metho ...

and

secular humanism Secular humanism is a philosophy, belief system or life stance that embraces human reason, secular ethics, and philosophical naturalism while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, and superstition as the basis of morality an ...

in India. In 2009, historian

Meera Nanda Meera Nanda (born 1954) is an Indian writer and historian of science, who has authored several works critiquing the influence of Hindutva, postcolonialism and postmodernism on science, and the flourishing of pseudoscience and vedic science. Sh ...

published a book entitled "The God Market". It examines how Hindu religiosity is gaining more popularity among the rising middle class, as India is liberalising the economy and adopting

globalisation Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...

. In March 2009, in Kerala, a pastoral letter addressing the

laity In religious organizations, the laity () consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother. In both religious and wider secular usage, a layperson ...

was issued by the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council urging the members to not vote for political parties which advocate atheism. In July 2010, another similar letter was issued. On 10 March 2012,

Sanal Edamaruku Sanal Edamaruku (born 26 May 1955) is an Indian author and rationalist. He is the founder-president and editor of ''Rationalist International'', the president of the Indian Rationalist Association and the author of 25 books and other articles. ...

investigated a so-called miracle in Vile Parle, where a Jesus statue had started weeping and concluded that the problem was caused by faulty drainage. Later that day, during a TV discussion with some church members, Edamaruku accused the Catholic Church of miracle-mongering. On 10 April, Angelo Fernandes, President of the Maharashtra Christian Youth Forum, filed a police complaint against Edamaruku under the Indian Penal Code Section 295A. In July while on a tour in Finland, Edamaruku was informed by a friend that his house was visited by the police. Since the offence is not bailable, Edamaruku stayed in Finland. On Friday 7 July 2013, the first "Hug an Atheist Day" was organised in India by Nirmukta. The event aimed to spread awareness and reduce the stigma associated with being an atheist. On 20 August 2013,

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 ( ...

, a rationalist and anti-superstition campaigner, was shot dead by two unknown assailants, while he was out on a morning walk. On 9th Jan 2021, E.A.Jabbar, freethinker, atheist, and rationalist from Kerala and Islamic preacher M.M. Akbar were engaged in a debate on Quran. Both sides claimed to have defeated the other debater even as there was no clear verdict. Manoj John, an internationally reputed atheist activist, was dragged into a controversy after Liyakhathali CM alleged that the former took money from M.M. Akbar to tilt the debate in Akbar's favour. International atheist organisations immediately conducted a four-month long investigation and absolved Manoj John of having any link with Islamic organisations or having accepted money from them. It later turned out to be a false allegation to tarnish Manoj John's rising reputation and recognition in the global freethought movement, showing at the same time the dissaray among the irreligion camp in

Kerala state 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 Cana ...

of India. In August 2021, Abdul Khader Puthiyangadi, an Indian citizen, a rationalist from Kerala, He was arrested by UAE police in 2021 without bail and sentenced to prison in UAE for 3 years for criticizing Islam on social media in his native language Malayalam. Liyakhathali CM, who was working towards the release of Puthiyangadi without authorisation by the latter's family, has been accused of unauthorised and intransparent fund collection for this purpose by many secular activists but the allegations have not yet been proven. On 10 January 2022, ex-Muslim rationalist Aneesh Jasy from Tamil Nadu was arrested without bail citing his Facebook posts against Islam

= Rise of ex-Muslims of Kerala

= In 2021 in Kerala, several ex-Muslims formed an organisation called ''Ex-Muslims of Kerala''. It is an organisation founded in 2021 by E. A. Jabbar, Liyakkathali CM, Arif Hussain, and a few others who left Islam in Kerala. The organisation gives support to those who left Islam, a minority that is facing persecution from the Islamic community, just because they left the religion. The organisation conducts debates with Islamic scholars and fundamentalists on various topics. Ex-Muslim of Kerala observes 9 January as ex-Muslim day, by conducting seminars on atheism and Islam.

Legal status, rights and laws

Atheism and irreligion are not officially recognised in India. Apostasy is allowed under the right to freedom of religion in the Constitution, and the Special Marriage Act, 1954 allows the marriage of people with no religious beliefs, as well as non-religious and non-ritualistic marriages. However, there are no specific laws catering to atheists and they are considered as belonging to the religion of their birth for administrative purposes. The box in which the 'caste' and 'religion' are to be filled is still present in a lot of forms. Some of these boxes on forms are also compulsory, and one does not always have the option of leaving them empty. The closest option one gets is 'Choose not to say' or 'Other' as an answer to these boxes. Ravi Kumar, an atheist from Haryana is another person who is struggling and fighting to be officially and legally irreligious and caste-less in India. He went to court to declare him officially atheist and he got one certificate in which it was mentioned that he had "No Caste, No Religion, & No God". Later, Justice Tejinder Singh Dhindsa of the Punjab and Haryana High Court said they had exceeded their authority and asked heim to return the certificate; he refused to do so. The Fatehabad district authorities who issued the certificate withdrew it in April 2019. Kumar plans to continue his quest to be officially declared an atheist. Sneha Parthibaraja, a lawyer from Vellore was the first citizen in India to get an official 'no religion, no caste' certificate. She won this right on February 5, 2019, after a 9-year court battle. Indian actor

Kamal Haasan Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali l ...

, who is known for his atheism, congratulated her on Twitter for this achievement.

Hate speech laws and irreligion

Notable verdicts

On 29 October 2013, the

Bombay High Court The High Court of Bombay is the high court of the states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily at Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), and is one of the ol ...

judged in favour of an atheist school teacher from Nashik. Sanjay Salve had been employed by the state-funded Savitribai Phule Secondary School since 1996. In June 2007, during a prayer session, Salve didn't fold his hands during the pledge or prayer. The school management called this indiscipline and refused him a higher pay grade in 2008 when Salve became eligible for it. Salve sought legal recourse citing the article 28 (a) of the Constitution which states "no person attending any educational institution recognised by the State or receiving aid out of State funds shall be required to take part in any religious instruction that may be imparted in such institution or to attend any religious worship that may be conducted in such institution". The court ruled in Salve's favour and directed the school to release his dues by 31 January 2014. On 23 September 2014, the

declared that the government cannot force a person to state a religion on any document or form. The court also stated any citizen has the right to declare that he/she doesn't belong to any religion. The decision came in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Ranjit Mohite, Kishore Nazare and Subhash Ranware, representing an organisation called Full Gospel Church of God, after the Maharashtra state printing press refused to issue them a gazette notification stating that they belonged to no religion. The petitioners stated that the organisation had 4000 members, and that they believe in Jesus Christ but they do not follow Christianity or any religion. Responding to the petition, the Maharashtra and the central governments had stated that "no religion" cannot be treated as a religion on official forms. The court cited the Article 25 of the Constitution, which guarantees right to freedom of conscience, while passing the verdict.

Persecution and attacks

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 ...

, an advocate of atheism, has claimed to have been attacked three times and had his scooter damaged twice, with one of the attacks leaving him with head injuries. This compelled him to take self-defence lessons and carry a nunchaku. Megh Raj Mitter's house was surrounded by a mob after he debunked the Hindu milk miracle, forcing him to call the police. On 15 March 2007, a bounty of was announced on atheist Bangladeshi author

Taslima Nasrin Taslima Nasrin (born 25 August 1962) is a Bangladeshi-Swedish writer, physician, feminist, secular humanist, and activist. She is known for her writing on women's oppression and criticism of religion. Some of her books are banned in Bangladesh ...

, while living in India, by a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

cleric named Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan for allegedly writing derogatory statements about Muhammad in her work. In December 2013, an

FIR Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family (biology), family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North America, North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The ...

was filed against Nasrin in Bareilly by a cleric named Hasan Raza Khan, for hurting religious sentiments. Nasrin had allegedly tweeted on Twitter that "In India, criminals who issue

fatwa A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist i ...

s against women don't get punished." Raza Khan said that by accusing clerics of being criminals, Nasrin had hurt religious sentiments. On 2 July 2011, the house of U. Kalanathan, secretary of the

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 ...

, was attacked in

Vallikunnu Vallikkunnu is a village in Tirurangadi Taluk of Malappuram district in the state of Kerala, India with an area of 25 km2. It is located 5 km north of Parappanangadi town and comes under the jurisdiction of Parappanangadi Police St ...

after he suggested on television that the temple treasures of Padmanabhaswamy Temple should be used for public welfare. On 20 August 2013,

, a rationalist and anti-superstition campaigner, was assassinated. On 16 February 2015, rationalist

Govind Pansare Govind Pansare (26 November 1933 – 20 February 2015) was a left-wing Indian politician of the Communist Party of India (CPI). He was also the author of the best selling Marathi language biography of 17th century ruler Shivaji, ''Shivaji Kon Ho ...

and his wife were attacked by unknown gunmen. He later died from the wounds on 20 February. On 30 August 2015,

M. M. Kalburgi Malleshappa Madivalappa Kalburgi (28 November 1938 – 30 August 2015) was an Indian scholar of Vachana sahitya (Vachana literature) in the Kannada-language and academic who served as the vice-chancellor of Kannada University in Hampi. A noted ...

, a scholar and rationalist, was shot dead at his home. He was known for his criticism of superstition and idol worship. Soon afterwards, another rationalist and author,

K. S. Bhagwan Kallahalli Sannegowda Bhagawan (born 14 July 1945), known as Prof. K. S. Bhagawan, is an Indian Kannada writer, rationalist, translator, critic, scholar and retired professor. In addition to his works on Hinduism, Indian culture and history, he ...

, received a threatening letter. He had offended religious groups by criticizing the Gita. In March 2017, 31-year-old A Farooq, an Indian Muslim youth from Coimbatore who became an atheist, was killed by members of a Muslim radical group.

Demographics

Indian government census

The Indian census does not explicitly count atheists. In the

, the response form required the respondent to choose from six options under religion. The "Others" option was meant for minor or tribal religions as well as

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 ...

s and

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...

s. The religion data from

was released in August 2015. It revealed that about 2,870,000 people had stated no religion in their response, about 0.27% of the nation's population. However, the number included atheists, rationalists and also those who believed in a higher power.

K. Veeramani Krishnasamy Veeramani (born 2 December 1933 in Cuddalore) is an Indian politician. Personal Veeramani was born in Cuddalore, South Arcot District, Tamil Nadu, his original name was Sarangapani. He had his primary education at Cuddalore and ...

, a Dravidar Kazhagam leader, said that it was the first time the number of non-religious people was recorded in the census. However, he added that he believed that the number of atheists in India was actually higher as many people don't reveal their atheism out of fear.

Different surveys

World Values Survey (2006)

According to the 2006 World Values Survey, conducted by the Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006), 6.6% of Indians stated that they had no religion.

WIN-Gallup Global Index of Religion and Atheism

According to the 2005 Global Index of Religion and Atheism report from WIN-Gallup, 87% of Indians were religious and 4% called themselves atheists. According to the 2012 report by the same organisation, 81% of Indians were religious, 13% were non-religious, 3% were convinced atheists and 3% were unsure or did not respond.

Worldviews and Opinions of Scientists in India (2007)

In 2007, a survey was conducted by the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and culture of the

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

with the help of

Center for Inquiry The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is a US nonprofit organization that works to mitigate belief in pseudoscience and the paranormal, as well as to fight the influence of religion in government. History The Center for Inquiry was established in 199 ...

(India) called Worldviews and Opinions of Scientists in India. 1100 scientists surveyed from 130 institutes. Most of them identified themselves as secular (59%) or somewhat secular (16%) but refused to be labelled

irreligious Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and ant ...

. 83% defined secularism, as it appears in the Indian constitutions, as the separation of state and religion. But, 93% also defined it as tolerance of other religious philosophies. 20% equated secularism to atheism. Only 11% called themselves completely not spiritual. However, 8% reportedly said they would refuse to do

stem cell research In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type o ...

based on religious or moral convictions. Y. S. Rajan commented on this saying that most Indians don't feel there is a conflict between science and religion. Other the hand, Innaiah Narisetti, chairman of Centre for Inquiry (India) and Pushpa Bhargava, the former director of the

Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology ( hi, कोशिकीय एवं आण्विक जीवविज्ञान केंद्र, IAST: ''Kośikīya evam āṇavik jīvavijñāna kendra'') or CCMB is an Indian fundamen ...

, pointed out the lack of

scientific temper The term scientific temper is broadly defined as "a modest open-minded temper—a temper ever ready to welcome new light, new knowledge, new experiments, even when their results are unfavourable to preconceived opinions and long-cherished theor ...

among Indian scientists.

Religion Among Scientists in an International Context (2014)

In a survey conducted by

Elaine Howard Ecklund Elaine Howard Ecklund is the Herbert S. Autrey Chair in Social Sciences and Professor of Sociology in the Rice University Department of Sociology, director of the Boniuk Institute for Religious Tolerance at Rice, and a Rice scholar at the James ...

of Rice University, it was found that: The ongoing study has surveyed 1,581 scientists from UK and 1,763 from India.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Irreligion in India Religion in India Religious demographics India Atheism