Mangaluru/Bengaluru: Among the diverse elements considered in the data collection of the much publicized caste census, the government has decided to provide space for atheists. With this inclusion, citizens of state, if he/she is an atheist, can claim to be an atheist following which code number 08 will be written by the surveyor.
This new addition in the caste census has generated interesting views from various quarters. In the book published by state government of Karnataka, it clearly states “if someone wants to reject religion and be recognized as an atheist, code 08 will be mentioned in the column meant for filling name of the religion.”
The Chief Minister (CM) of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah traditionally does not believe in the concept of God. He is a rational thinker. This is what a source close to Siddaramaiah expressed to Newskarnataka.com. However the person close to the CM in his telephone conversation said he was not in his rights to comment on the move. Owing to his desire, this report maintains anonymity of the source. He confirmed that, though the CM finds time to visit temples and other traditional places of religion, Siddu “traditionally does not believe in god.”
Contextualizing the argument, he said the inclusion of atheism in the caste census showcases the progressive attitude of the Chief Minister. “Siddaramaiah told me personally that he visits shrines of Hindus, Muslims and Christians due to his administerial commitments”. Being the CM he had to respect the desires of citizens of his state. He reiterated addition of atheism element in the survey was motivated by the beliefs followed by the CM.
On the other hand, interestingly Revenue Minister of the state Srinivas Prasad disputed the above view. Moreover the minister was unaware of code number 08 until this reporter asked questions on the issue. Then, while answering these queries to Newskarnataka.com the minister expressed the view that he came to know about this aspect of the survey only after this reporter pointed out the facility in the survey. He said it was not healthy to for a person to be recognized as an atheist. He opined one must have religious beliefs be it any religion. When asked whether CM was force behind introducing this concept, he dismissing claimed Siddaramaiah visits shrines. The Minister averred that he does not practice many beliefs of Hindu religion at his home and Dr B R Ambedkar who was critical of Hindu religion did not end up an as atheist instead he embraced Buddhism.
A journalist from the Kannada Prabha, Jitendra Kundeshwara told Newskarnataka.com atheism had space in Hindu religion. He was against the view of atheism being a rejection of religion. The government would not have reserved the space in the religion box to mention atheists as Hinduism accepts atheism. Another journalist from an English daily under the condition of anonymity viewed the move by the state government as significant.
He claimed children at the tender age were not consulted by the parents while registering the name of religion in government records. “The biggest forcible conversions happen at home.” To simplify, scribe meant parents do not give proper education on religion which unknowingly denies constitutional right, ‘right to religion’.
The government has to introduce this in all government records including schools and colleges, said an atheist who earlier in his life was brought up as Muslim. He requested anonymity as he publicly declaring as an atheist would backfire on him as Islam is rigid when comes to atheism. Welcoming the move, he expressed that this has to peculate in all records. “Many atheists do not wish to mention his or her religion in boxes meant to fill religious beliefs in many documentation,” he concluded.
The facilities provided by the government to backward castes and communities also played a dominant role while articulating views on the new introduction. The DYFI president Muneer Katipalla told this reporter that people mandatorily mention caste and religion. Otherwise, according to Muneer, the number of population in backward castes and communities would slump forcing the government to rethink on providing the schemes to communities with less numbers. “I welcome the move, but people have to stamp their religion. The ideology or beliefs of atheists should not snatch away facilities of his/her community,” he reiterated.
