For six full days, from 25th to 31st December 2007, over 60 participants from several regions of the Indian sub-continent gathered at IHEU Member Organisation Viveka College of Education in Chirala to discuss, to debate and to learn about Humanism, Rationalism and Secularism. Activities started at the crack of dawn and ended only well past midnight. The participants and the resource persons listened to lectures, argued and disagreed, played games and enacted skits, watched movies and documentaries on related subjects, and returned home with the resolve to take up specific Humanist activities and projects in their respective regions and fields of interest.

Attracting New Blood
Organised with the express purpose of attracting new blood to the movement, and also to provide training to consolidate the skills of those already a part of the movement, the program emerged from a real need felt amongst Indian Humanists: the old generation which provided stellar leadership and representation to Humanist ideas is slowly disappearing and a new generation of leaders needs to urgently step into their shoes. Also, new blood needs to be infused into the movement at a time when religious fundamentalism is on the rise, appeasement to forces of reaction by the government is the order of the day, rational discussion and the scientific point of view is being eclipsed in the public space. The Humanist movement also had to reach out to newer constituencies by showing how this philosophy was of relevance to their lives and struggles.

Supported by IHEU, and implemented by IHEU’s Member Organisation, The Social Development Foundation, the training program received cooperation and participation from IHEU Member Organisations, The Indian Radical Humanist Association, Rationalist Association of India, Indian Renaissance Institute, Atheist Center, and Netradana Protsahaka Sangham.

Veteran Rationalist and Humanist philosopher Ravipudi Venkatadri inaugurated the Study Program and provided an outline of the Humanist worldview, and the link between Secularism, Rationalism and Humanism. Vidya Bhushan Rawat led the discussions on human rights and the Humanist approach to social problems. The human rights with which Humanists should be concerned should include the problems of hunger and deprivation as well as land rights and the right to literacy and modern education. Sujatha Surepally, a Dalit and women’s activist, introduced issues related to women’s rights, demonstrating through an activity the various conventions and dictates that bind a women to submissionwoman to submission. Uttam Niraula and Krishna Bhandari of IHEYO and SOCH Nepal gave information about the exciting developments for Secularism in Nepal, while Mihir Dave shared the gloom of Gujarat. Bhaskar Sur from Bengal spoke about the dramatic developments in Nandigram in Bengal where urgent human rights issues came up with the growing industrializationindustrialisation in the country and the need for acquiring traditional agricultural land for the needs of industry.

President of the Federation of Indian Rationalist and Atheist Organisations (FIRA) Dr. Narendra Nayak and the scientist Dr. Balasubramanyam were important pillars of the Study Program and together they led the participants and trainees through ideas of leadership, personal development, human values, the concepts of the scientific method and the philosophical consequences of the modern scientific knowledge. A unique achievement was their conducting the training in English, Hindi, Telugu and Tamil to better reach all the participants! Dr. Vijayam from the Atheist Center spoke on the role of Humanists in building a new society, and Mr. Prasad from Vasavya Society for Rural Development interacted with the trainees on questions of modern development and industrialisation and its consequences for our lives. There were also angry discussions about the role of Gandhi, the contribution of Dr. Ambedkar (Architect of the Indian Constitution and pioneer of movement for eradication of caste-based discrimination) and the relevance of their ideas to the modern Indian society. One trainee wisely remarked “I realizerealise that the ideas of Ambedkar that I have been spreading are all Humanist ideas”.

Organisational Aspects of the Humanist Movement
Obviously, with such a distinguished panel of resource persons the participants were able to achieve a good overview of the concepts of Humanism, Rationalism and Secularism, as well as obtain knowledge of the International Humanist Movement led by IHEU and IHEYO. But what about organisational aspects of the Humanist Movement? If Humanists were forming organisations to spread their ideas, how should Humanist leaders conduct themselves and their organisations so that they could become modern, vibrant organisations, able to take advantage of modern technology, and trained to make inroads in the media as well as to successfully raise funds to keep activities going? Humanists needed to be good public communicators and should have a thorough knowledge with the contentious issues of the day and argue their point well in front of an audience. Babu Gogineni trained the participants to become better public speakers and communicators – and they all spoke on contemporary issues, including the situation of Taslima Nasrin, the freedom of religion and belief etc., with their fellow trainees offering feedback. Humanist work through organisations and in the public arena also has legal consequences in a country like India where the law is not entirely in favour of Humanist activism. Chandrasekhar, an officer of the Income Tax department addressed the group and gave them hints on how to go about making successful Tax exemption applications and how to comply with the regulations so that Humanist organisations would be on the right side of the law.

SWOT Analysis for Humanist Movement
A Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis was done for the Humanist Movement and another exercise was undertaken by the group to define Goals and Objectives both at the regional level and the national level for the Humanist movement. The issues of Separation of Religion and State, the question of laws restricting the freedom of speech and the challenge of superstition were discussed. Apart from the growing threat of both Hindu and Islamic fundamentalism, areas of weaknesses identified were a lack of resources, inadequate training opportunities in learning about and consolidating one’s Humanist ideas, and the lack of a focus in the organised Humanist movement on creating a forum that can provide social and emotional support to Humanists themselves. There was Munni Begum, a trainee who, despite being from an extremely deprived background and of Muslim origin, was able to break the chains of backwardness and pursue a Masters-level education. There were also the enthusiastic and talented Deepmala and Neha who, as students, made impressive progress in studies in spite of their Dalit background. Where were they to seek support when their achievements were not even hailed in the society they live in? If Suman, the women’s rights activist who came from Uttar Pradesh, wanted to meet with fellow Humanists where was she to find them? There were Mahender and Nirmala, the young couple from Andhra Pradesh, who had broken caste barriers and married –and now were ostracised by society and family. Where are they to find a refuge if not in a Humanist community which could provide them emotional and social support? And how should Humanists celebrate their weddings and organise funerals for non-religious persons?

Educating Children in Humanist Ways
To address these and similar areas of concern and to understand how Humanism could play a helpful role in the personal lives of secular minded people Chandralatha, the well known and award-winning writer in the Telugu language, spoke of the issues concerning bringing up children and of better ways of educating children. The trainees listened with interest about her fascinating experiments of mixing up groups of illiterate children from uneducated families and children of reputed International schools. She disclosed that illiterate children had original stories to offer while those receiving a costly education had a strong disconnect with reality!

Humanist Ceremonies
The trainees also divided themselves into groups and organised mock weddings and funerals on a Humanist basis. P. Subba Raju from the IHEU MO Netra Dana Protsahaka Sangham gave useful information on how everyone could donate blood, and after death vital organs, to help people in need of corneal transplants etc.

While the trainees left with the declared intention of intensifying their activism on a Humanist basis, the organisers, who were very satisfied with the outcome, declared their intention to train at least 500 more persons within the next two years in the Indian subcontinent. They have already received an invitation to organise a similar program in Mumbai and another in Kerala state.! Onwards!