Sumitra Padmanabhan This is to spread the aims and goals of The Zeitgeist Movement :– [আমরা এটাকে বলছি ‘যুগের হাওযা’ আন্দোলন – যাতে এক বিশ্বজনীন রসদ-ভিত্তিক অর্থনীতির কথা ভাবা হয়েছে, যার নির্যাস দেওয়া হয়েছে সুমিত্রা পদ্মনাভন এর “হট্টমালার দেশ অথবা যুগের হাওয়া” বইতে] 1. Conserving all the world’s resources as the common heritage of all [...]
There seems to be no other news in the papers for the last few weeks – culminating in Kasab’s death sentence announced on May 6, 2010. The font size gets bigger and bigger on the headline as the days pass. It makes us feel that with Kasab’s hanging terrorism will come to a sublime and [...]
Right after the Annual Conference held at Kolkata, our Bankura branch has jumped into action. A tribal girl, Putul Tudu aged 12 years was being given in marriage against her will. It is not only illegal in India, but unethical and inhuman. Our secretary Biplab Das from Bankura visited the remote village Housibad amidst the [...]
ভাতার থানার ও সি — কালী মন্দিরে বলি না দিয়ে পাঁঠাদের পুষে ফেললেন। নাম দিলেন রামু-শামু। ছবিতে দেখুন কেমন পাতা খাচ্ছে রামু-শামু। আর মা-কালীর জায়গা দখল করেছে খুদে খুদে রাধা-কৃষ্ণ। এই ঘটনায় যুক্তিবাদীদের অবশ্যই হাত আছে। পেপার কাটিং পড়ে নিন। আমাদের আশা ভবিষ্যতে আরো ছোট হতে হতে রাধা-কৃষ্ণ ভ্যানিশ হয়ে যাবেন। নতুবা ঠাঁই পাবেন ও [...]
Sumitra Padmanabhan People sang, prayed, marched with candles and protested against terrorism. It all sounds so common, a little silly and rather childish. On 26 November 2009, throughout the day all the TV channels showed thousands of people – young, smart, educated, upper or at least middle class Bombayites (now called Mumbaikars) thronging to the [...]
[“মাও-দমনের স্নায়বিক চাপ নিতে পারছেন না বহু পুলিশকর্মী”] No, it is not in fear of the Maoists, but being unable to cope with the pressure from the government. They do not want to be a party to the state-sponsored terrorism. They cannot support the random and mindless killing of poor tribal people by branding them [...]
We want to strengthen our campaign for legalizing Euthanasia in India. Seriously. Before that, I request all readers to go through the entire essay “Euthanasia or death-wish” available on this site. Those who agree with the idea are free to offer new points, ask questions based on the article mentioned above and design a short [...]
We are used to the idea of getting foreign grants for developing the really poor areas—the slums in cities and the poverty stricken jungle people of the tribal belt. But real development comes from within the people, from self-reliance. The state can only provide infrastructure—roads, electrification, water supply, healthcare and education. Samir Saha Poddar, an [...]
This letter has been sent to the Editor, The Telegraph. All the news items point to one thing– lack of understanding, resulting in utter confusion. “We have come here for peace. Innocent villagers are getting trapped between the Maoists and the security forces. We would like both sides to drop their arms and come for [...]
This is based on an actual experiment conducted in U.K. Put eight monkeys in a room. In the middle of the room is a ladder, leading to a bunch of bananas hanging from a hook on the ceiling.Each time a monkey tries to climb the ladder, all the monkeys are sprayed with ice water, which [...]
By Sumitra Padmanabhan Rationalists have earlier been targets of public wrath. Rationalism as against spiritualism has for ages tried to bring out the truth by exposing frauds, explaining natural or man-made mysteries. In the process charlatans of all kinds were naturally up against rationalists. This trait of laying bare the truth, of busting the hypocrisies [...]
By Sumitra Padmanabhan, General Secretary, HUMANISTS’ ASSOCIATION We strongly condemn the incident of violence on Taslima Nasreen in Hyderabad on August 9, 2007. There is nothing ‘unfortunate’ about it as described by the MIM chief, Sultan S. Owaisi. Fortune has nothing to do with man’s misdeeds. Someone has to take responsibility for any wrong that [...]
By Sumitra Padmanabhan The writer, the General Secretary of Humanists’ Association raises the valid question of why very sick and suffering people beyond recovery should not have the right to choose death. Venkatesh and his mother Euthanasia is a Greek word that means ‘good-death’ (eu = good, thanatos = death). In other words – a [...]
Sumitra Padmanabhan sumitra_humanist@hotmail.com Let us first see what is meant by the word ‘Religion’. To many the word conveys a strong personal and emotional meaning which would make any unbiased judgment quite impossible. So, let us start with an open mind and analyze the word ‘religion’ to understand –not only what it is, but also [...]
Sumitra Padmanabhan G.S. Humanists’ Association, & Editor, The Freethinker Any reservation or quota of seats for higher studies or professional courses is against human rights and human dignity. This kind of reservation reinforces the caste system already prevailing in the Indian society and encourages discrimination among fellow countrymen. The quota system not only degenerates the [...]
