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m s l ai n o ai R t in Punjab

Raj Paul Singh

Tarksheel Society Punjab (Regd.)

Rationalism in Panjab

Raj Paul Singh

Tarksheel Society, Panjab


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Rationalism in Panjab
by

Raj Paul Singh

First Edition - January, 1998 Price - Rs. 10/ - Author Composed by Sharndeep Tarksheel Computers Kotkapura Printed at Accuracia Printo-Graphers Factory Area, Patiala Published by Tarksheel Society, Panjab Financial asistance Aman Pal S. Sara, Vancouver (Canada)
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D d c t dt eiae o
Shaheed-E-Azam Bhagat Singh
&

Paash

CONTENTS

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Preface ........................................................ 6 An Introduction .......................................... 8 Tradition and History of Panjab ................ 16 Present day Panjab .................................... 20 The Dark Patches ...................................... 32 Amateur Psychiatrists ............................... 40 Relevance of Rationalism ......................... 54 The Challenge ........................................... 58

Preface
This book is prepared to give a concise information about the activities of Tarksheel Society Punjab. But the work of any organisation cannot be fully appreciated without the knowledge of sociocultural milieu in which it works. So social, cultural, political and historical aspects of Panjabi society, relevant to the rationalist movement are also briefly described in this book. The need for such a book in English was felt after Tarksheel Society Panjab came into contact with rationalist and humanist organisations working elsewhere. Without any such literature in English it was difficult to share our experiences with those organisations. Moreover there is a sizeable population of Panjabi people in other countries, especially in Britain, Canada, America and Australia, which all are English speaking countries. A good number among them are well-wishers of Tarksheel Society Panjab. So with this book they can share information, about the rationalist movement in Panjab, with their nonIndian friends. Besides this, many boys and girls, belonging to the younger generation of Panjabis, born in those countries, are unable to read or write Panjabi. Therefore such literature can link them with what is going on in their ancestral land, Panjab. I, on the behalf of Tarksheel Society Panjab, am
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specially thankful to Mr. Aman Pal Sara from Canada, a well-wisher of Tarksheel Society Panjab, who bore all the expenses for publishing this book. I am also grateful to Prof. Roshan Lal and Mr. Pawan Gulati who gave valuable suggestions regarding the language of the book. I hope that this book will give a better understanding of the work of Tarksheel Society Panjab as well as the socio-cultural background in which it works. Raj Paul Singh,
Hari Nau Road, Kotkapura (Pb.) PIN Code - 151204.

An Introduction
Tarksheel (Rationalist) Society Punjab is an organisation committed to the objectives of inculcating scientific and rational thinking among the people. As in many other regions of the world, irrational beliefs dominated the daily lives of our people so they were easy victims of various superstitions, rituals, charms, tantriks, fortune-tellers, godmen, religious fanatics etc. Though there have been many persons with rational thinking, but to give a jolt to the traditional way of thinking, a strong movement under the guidance of a well-developed organistaion was needed. It was only in 1984, that an organisation committed to rationalist and scientific thinking came into existance to fulfil this task. A worth noting point about the time of its formation is that religious fundamentalism was at its peak when such an atheist and rationalist organisation was established. As can be easily contemplated, the prevailing conditions of our state demanded a lot of courage and tactical ability to work for such an organisation. Proudly indeed, we emerged successful from that period and its influence spread rapidly among the masses of the state. Its formation is associated with the translation of a book Begone Godmen written by Dr. A. T.
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Kavoor. In this book Dr. Kavoor had explained his encounters with so-called super-natural claims and phenomena, and how he exposed them. Though Dr. Kavoor worked in Sri Lanka and southern India, yet his experiences were equally relevant to our society. So it was decided to translate this book into Punjabi language for the benefit of common man. In this book there was a challenge by Dr. Kavoor that he will pay an award of one lakh rupees to any person who can demonstrate supernatural or miraculous powers under fraud-proof conditions. So in this process, a need was also felt to form an organisation so as to shoulder the challenge* registered in the book and to propagate scientific & rational views among the people of Punjab. When the book was published, the response to rationalism was beyond all expectations and units of Tarksheel Society Punjab were formed all over the state in a very short time and Tarksheel Society Punjab developed into a well known body.

Activities :Many activities have been devised to propagate rationalism among masses. One of them is to give programmes of lecture-cum-magic tricks. In this activity a team of 3-4 members goes to a village. After giving introduction about themselves and the organisation, one spokesman would say that they will *For challenge see page 58
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perform some magic tricks. He would clarify to the people that this performance of magic tricks is not for their entertainment but to show that there is nothing supernatural or magical behind the magic tricks. After some magic tricks there is again a talk about rationalism, about the falseness of astrology, palmistry, magic, spirits etc., about the need to shun superstitions, about the truth behind miracles, the challenge to godmen and so on. The whole lecture is split into 4-5 parts and in between various magic tricks are performed. The performance of magic tricks serves two purposes ; first of all it demonstrates practically, that there is nothing supernatural behind magic, secondly, with magic tricks the whole programme becomes quite attractive and entertaining instead of a dry lecture. Near the end of the programme, the secrets behind 2 or 3 tricks are disclosed. This is done in order to clarify about the reality of magic, but the demand to expose all the magic tricks is ignored as this would put an end to the art of magic. We consider magic as a wonderful art which requires a combination of various talents such as wit, wisdom, acting and some other skills. There is nothing harmful in its performance if it is presented in the right perspective and is not associated with something supernatural. So instead of disclosing all the tricks, we encourage the spectators to try to find out secrets of magic tricks themselves.
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These programmes provoked discussions and a large number of questions were asked. People asked how such and such superstitions originated, how these prevailed upon masses, how the magician is able to perform this or that trick, how such and such miracles happened, how this universe was created, who created man, what about astrology, palmistry, faith-healing etc., and there would also be a discussion about the concept of God. The members of Tarksheel Society Punjab worked hard to provide rational answers to such questions and almost everytime majority of the people were convinced and satisfied. Soon these programmes became very popular and young men from many villages themselves asked for organising such programmes in their own villages and schools. Then there were cases of abnormal behaviour which were presented as persons possessed by spirits of the dead. Besides these, there were many reports of mysterious happenings supposed to be the work of ghosts etc. Tarksheel Society Punjab had to solve the riddles of such cases and reports. We started our work in this field without any prior experience, knowledge, guidance or training. Anyway when one works with a firm conviction and, moreover, works on scientific lines, he is bound to succeed. The same thing happened with our members, who taking Dr. Kavoors work as a model and learning from experience, succeeded in
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deciphering almost all such cases or mysteries. Success in such cases greatly enhanced the reputation and influence of the Tarksheel Society Punjab. Similarily, there is a strong belief in the concept of rebirth among Indian people. It has the sanction of most Indian religions, so this belief is prevalent among Hindus as well as Sikhs & Buddhists. Under this influence cases of rebirth were reported very often. Tarksheel Society Punjab investigated every case of 'rebirth' reported from Punjab and exposed the falseness of such reports. Now due to the continuous work of Tarksheel Society Punjab, the number of such rumours about rebirth has come down to near zero. Soon after the rationalist movement was launched, noted Punjabi dramatist Sh. Gursharan Singh wrote an excellent play based on the theme of Begone Godmen. This play became very popular in Punjab. Afterwards many other plays were written and staged hundreds of times all over the state by a number of drama troupes. The most conspicuous role in this field has been that of Art Centre Samrala. These plays spread the message of rationalism in a powerful and impressive way. The role of printed matter for any movement is always very important. So the Tarksheel Society Punjab paid a special attention to make good rationalist literature available to people. The literature published
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by TSP has been very popular among the people. The books on rationalism are the most sought-after books on book-stalls of Punjab. The circulation of magazine published by Tarksheel Society Punjab, viz. TARKSHEEL, has crossed ten thousand mark recently, which is a laudable achievement as very few magazines of Punjabi language have been able to reach this mark. Melas (Fairs) are very important and integral part of Punjabi culture. Such fairs are usually related to mythological or religious personalities. To give a rationalist version of these melas, Tarksheel Society Punjab started organising an annual fair to commemorate the birth anniversary of Dr. A. T. Kavoor. This was named TARKSHEEL MELA. Every year this annual fair is organised at a different place. In this annual fair, rationalists from all over the state participate and common folks from nearby areas join in large numbers, making it a congregation of many thousand people. Here plays are staged, fire-walking, miracle exposure and magic tricks are performed, exhibitions related to science and achievements of Tarksheel Society Punjab are organised, books are displayed and along with all this there are stalls of eatables, cold drinks, tea etc. Now apart from this annual Tarksheel Mela many local units of Tarksheel Society Punjab organise Tarksheel Melas in their own
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areas at local levels. In a Tarksheel Mela, people assemble at one place to learn something from rationalists. There is another activity named Tarksheel Kafla (Rationalist Caravan) which is somewhat opposite to the Mela i.e. rationalists go to the people in their localities to educate them. In this activity rationalist workers of a unit make a tour of villages. They talk to the people, give some demonstrations, motivate them to adapt rationalism as their way of thinking and then move towards next village. In this Kafla usually there are some two-wheelers and one or two four-wheelers (Jeep, Tractor-trolley etc.). They carry with them their own sound system (microphone and loud-speakers). In this way 4-5 villages are covered in a day. A worthnoting achievement of Tarksheel Society Punjab is that it is not confined to intellectual circles only, as is the case with many other such organisations working elsewhere. Rather, first, it become popular with the masses and then it attracted the attention of intelligentsia.

Impact :
Superstitions still exist, many people still have faith in supernatural powers, thousands still visit deras of godmen, but there is no denying to the fact that a great change has taken place in the last few years. The change is that the above-mentioned viewpoint has been
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compelled to take a defensive position. The main achievement of Tarksheel Society Punjab is that it has established the superiority and righteousness of rationalism. Just in a decade, Tarksheel Society Punjab has created an environment in Punjab that now nobody openly defends superstitions or supernatural claims or takes stand against rationalism. It is true that superstitious thinking has not been eradicated but its case is just like corruption. People do corruption but nobody claims that corruption is just. Similarily people still follow irrational practices but do not claim that they are doing a right thing. Actually many imaginary concepts of gods, ghosts, spirits, heaven and hell, rebirth etc. and many myths, customs, superstitions have come down to our people through a number of generations. As a result they have become a part of their collective sub-consciousness. External factors such as hard life conditions of people provide a base for such thinking to continue its existence. So the struggle against all this will last for a long time and this struggle has to be waged not only to change the thinking of people but also to change the materialistic conditions of peoples life. -----

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Tradition and History of Punjab


The emergence of such a strong rationalist movement can not be considered in isolation from the history and cultural traditions of Punjab. Due to its geographic situation it has been a meeting place for various alien cultures and ideologies. Every invader wishing to conquer or enter India has to first come into contact with the people of this land. Constant flow of invaders allowed neither the swords to rust nor the cultural patterns to stagnate. This was in quite contrast to the situation in the rest of India. Inspite of the turbulence of a border state, the fertility of its land provided the necessary prosperity to sustain and allure the thinkers who had concerns with higher values of life. This fertility of land did not allow the culture of Punjab to turn into a barbaric culture, rather, after every major invasion, this land inspired people to pause, to think over the ultimate questions of existence and to understand each other's viewpoint about these questions. So it was not just a coincidence that, after Aryans came to India, Vedas were written here, in Punjab, and not elsewhere. Similarily after the Islamic invasion, Punjab was the centre of that branch of sufism which was most liberal and anticlergy in nature. Though it was a mystic
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philosophy, yet its overall impact was against religious orthodoxy, fundamentalism, ritualism and communal hatred. In fact, what the common folks of Punjab imbibed from sufis was a much more worldly interpretation of their mystic utterings about love and life. Afterwards, teachings of Guru Nanak, the first Guru of Sikhs, and his successors left a very strong impact on the people's thinking and their way of life in this region. Though like any other religion, Sikhism has its own dogmas, yet its positive effect cannot be ignored. Philosophically, Guru Nanak gave more subtle and sophisticated interpretations about the origin and infiniteness of universe. The value of his interpretations becomes more important when we evaluate them in contrast with the crude stories and explanations given by many other religions. He refuted with forceful arguments many superstitions prevalent at that time. The Sikh movement consolidated the humanist content of the Bhakti movement and considerably weakened the caste system. For a long time it helped to inculcate anti-establishment feelings among the people of Punjab. The British annexed Punjab in the middle of nineteenth century, and after that in the beginning of this century, many persons of this region came into contact with western philosophies and it was marxism
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which influenced them most. And one thing, that is beyond any controversy about the role of marxism, is that its influence helped to spread secular, scientific and socialistic ideas among a sizeable section of Punjabi population. Then in the struggle for independence, Punjab was again at the fore-front. The most worshipped martyr of Indian freedom struggle, Bhagat Singh, who was an atheist to the core, also belonged to the soil of Punjab. Though he had to go to gallows at a very young age of 23, he gave atheism a respectable defence by writing his famous and well argumented article, Why am I an atheist. As a hero of masses, he gave credibility to atheism, which was associated with him. The practices associated with Hindu religion e. g. the idol worship, rigid caste system, plethora of gods, ritualism etc. were present in very diluted forms as compared to the rest of India. Similarily, concepts of semitic religions also did not get rooted in the minds of Punjabi folks. The historical conditions of Punjab made various types of struggles their way of life, rather than worship of gods. It is not to deny the fact, that religion and worship were also a part of their life, but to assert that struggle was more dominating factor in the evolution of Punjabi Culture. Thus it can be seen from this simplified version of history that rationalism was not grafted from outside
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in recent years, rather it had roots in the history and culture of Punjab. Actually in every society, various ideological currents act and interact with each other, the progressive as well as reactionary ideas get obsolete in one form and re-emerge in other forms, making new combinations of ideas. In this process, materialistic conditions play major role to decide that which ideas would dominate at any given time. What is progressive and what is reactionary in a particular period, has to be decided in the context of historical conditions prevalent at that time. Most of forementioned movements may not seem to be much progressive when evaluated against present day rationalism, but they had played a historical role in breaking the already established dogmas of their own times. These movements induced a spirit and a tradition to rebel against authorities, spiritual as well as temporal. -----

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Present Day Punjab


It may seem ridiculous, if I say that Punjab is a land of progressive and less dogmatic people, especially to a person not closely familiar with Punjab. Rather, what he observes is that majority of men support unshaven beards and full length hair under turbans, that lakhs of Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims were killed in this land by religious fanatics during partition of India, that worst type of religion based terrorism was dominating the scene just a few years back (i.e. from1980 to 1992). Where is the rationalist tradition, he may logically ask. There can be no denial that the above-mentioned arguments are based on facts. But they do not represent the situation on the whole. Under the visible upper layer of such religious and fanatic appearance lie many other factors which must be fully analysed and appreciated. First of all the people of any region usually do not form a homogeneous group. There are various categories of people which have their specific life patterns. So to understand the life of Punjab we should know not only the common characterstics of Punjabi people but also the differences among them, how the various groups interact with each other and to what
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extent they influence the common life and culture of Punjab. To understand the psyche of Punjabi people, we must know something about the economy, religions and politics of Punjab as these are basic factors which shape the thinking patterns of the people of a specific region. Punjab is chiefly an agrarian state. Agriculture dominates its economy. Most people are directly involved in agriculture or are in occupations related to agriculture. Feudalism has come to an end and now owner farmers dominate the scene having land holdings of various sizes. The entire process of agriculture is mechanised, though the level of agricultural technology is not as high as in western countries. Generally speaking, peasants do not subscribe to religious orthodoxy. Their life conditions do not permit them to follow the set practices of a specific religion rigidly. Instead they follow more the folk religion of that area and thus are more liberal and less dogmatic in religious practices. But on the other hand they are more prone to various superstitions and folk beliefs. The peasant class of Punjab have all the above mentioned characterstics, but we know that consciousness of people changes as the means of production changes. With mechanisation of agriculture, a base has been formed for the inculcation
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of scientific temper instead of superstitious thinking which had roots in the nature based agriculture of yesteryears. This is one of the reasons behind the warm response to rationalism in the state. Another important class is landless labourer class belonging to castes that are considered at the bottom of caste heirarchy. These are oppressed classes not only economically but socially too, though the hold of caste system is minimum as compared to the rest of India. They were never a religious people but now there is an ever increasing awareness among them against religious systems as it was the sanction of Hindu religion which was responsible for this ossification of caste system. But their hard life conditions make them an easy prey to various types of superstitions. Occultism is a part of their daily life. Propagation of rationalism among them is a much needed and important task for the rationalist movement. Then there is the educated middle class which comprises teachers, doctors, lawyers, technicians, craftsmen, skilled workers etc. Due to their higher educational level and comparatively better economic position they have a better understanding of the world around them. The persons which are at the forefront of rationalist movement or other such progressive movements mainly belong to this class. Though some
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persons belonging to this class may become ideologues or proponents of religious orthodoxy, yet as a class it has positive response to rationalism. The worst class from rationalist angle is the urban business community of Punjab which is mainly associated with trading ; only a few among them are in production line. Firstly, business involves risk as compared to the constancy of salary. Actually the well known dictum about business is that 'more the risk, more the profit'. The ups and downs of business makes them believer in fate and various types of superstitions. Secondly, they do not get the satisfaction associated with production of something, which a farmer or craftsman can attain. Moreover, there is competition in the business, which pulls them towards adapting all means, fair or unfair, to outclass their competitors. On many occassions communalism or religious appeals are also used for this purpose. This has been one of the reasons that urban business community in Punjab was more prone to communalism during the rise of religious terrorism and fundamentalism. So as a class it is chiefly a non-rationalist group. This is a general evaluation of various classes in context of rationalism. But it has to be kept in mind that these general characterstics do not apply to each and every member of that class. There are exceptions as well as individual differences. There are many other
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factors which play a role in the psychological and ideological make-up of a man. Education, media, family background, peers, friends, degree of success in life and many other individual events interact and combine together to shape the viewpoint of an individual. So there are many persons belonging to business community which are hardcore rationalists and many educated persons belonging to salaried class, even some doctors and lecturers in science subjects, may have belief in various superstitions. But the economic class determines some common conditions of life e.g. level of education one receives, type of media one has access to, the education level and thinking of his parents, ones peers and friends, success in life, all are related to his / her class. So, adjusting for individual differences, it can be safely argued that the afore-mentioned analysis of various socioeconomic groups in Punjab applies to the majority of people. Religion is another important factor which influences the thinking of the people of a particular area. So when we examine the rational and scientific content in the thinking of the people of any region we have to take into account the religions, their specific characterstics and the extent of their hold on the people of that region. In Punjab there are Sikhs (63%), Hindus (34%),
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Muslims (1.2%) and Christians (1.1%). Along with these religions there are some sects like Radha Swami, Sacha Sauda, Nirankaris etc. which have a considerable following. The followers of these sects are also counted under their respective religions but practically these sects are parallel to other established religions. Sikhism is the most important religion of this region. Its influence is not confined to Sikhs alone but has made a marked impression on the total psyche of Punjabi people. From rationalist angle its role is manifold. Its origin lies the reform movement of Bhakti Lehar which sought to remove ills of Hindu religion. So historically, it fought against many dogmas, superstitions and rituals prevalent in the middle ages, but in the course of time it developed its own rituals and dogmas. Similarily it tried to give more subtle explanations about the origin and infinity of universe, cosmos order, reality of this world and the way of life one should live, but philosphically it was an idealistic and spiritualistic ideology, thus a hindrance to the objective and scientific understanding of the world. As its origin was in recent past there are not many mythological characters or mythological stories associated with it but there are many myths about the lives of the historical persons associated with Sikhism.
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One of the most distinguishing feature of Sikhs is their external appearance with turban and unshaven beard. Though there are five such essential symbols called Kakaars (starting with K sound) i. e. Kes (hairs), Kangha (comb), Karha (bracelet), Kshehra (A specially prepared underwear) and Kirpan (sword), but practically first of these had gained prominence and had become the distinguishing mark of Sikhs. To cut or shave hairs is considered an objectionable act in the commandments (rehatnamas) of Sikhs. The necessity for such a commandment seems to have arisen to overcome the problem of changing loyalties by many followers during Sikhs' struggle with Mughal govt. This provided a natural and clearcut identification to which side they belonged. But nowadays the main argument given by Sikhs for not removing hairs is that nature has made man in this form so man should not change it. Moreover during Mughal period many Sikhs suffered much torture and sacrificed their lives for upholding the sanctity of hairs, this gave an emotional aspect to this question. Still the practical problems and inconvenience associated with the strict code of not cutting or mutilating a single hair, has compelled majority of Sikhs to adapt a more easy way of looking like Sikhs though not following the sanctity of hairs strictly. So they may trim their beards, cut their hairs and shave from other parts of
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body, but wearing turban and supporting a beard make them to look like Sikhs. Actually the turban has associated itself more to the culture of Punjab than to Sikh religion. The turban has become a symbol of respectability and it protects the head from extremes of weather. A person with turban is considered a good personality ! To an outsider it may seem entirely awkward but beauty and good personality are culturally determined terms. This is the reason (i.e. cultural aspect) that many of communists and rationalists look like Sikhs though they have no religious faith. Some Hindus and Muslims of Punjab also wear turban and in their external appearance resemble Sikhs. There have been debates about how a rationalist should look. But the question of external appearance is not simple in Punjab as it appears to be. It is true, when a rationalist wears turban, it seems that he is associated with the Sikh faith, but if he shaves his beard, he will have the appearance of a Hindu. So at present the dominating view is that there should not be much controversy about external appearance. A rationalist should be free to choose his/her appearance, as he feels is good for him, (but it should not be dictated by any remains of religious faith in his/her mind.) The next important religion of Punjab is Hinduism. There is not a single system of beliefs in
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this religion so many thinkers describe Hinduism as a set of rites and rituals rather than a religion. Anyway, Hinduism is the most ancient religion of the world and it does not owe its origin to a common prophet. Its dogmatism varies consideraby in different parts and different sections of people, but more or less, Hinduism is less fanatic and more liberal to theological criticism as there is not a single set of religious practices. Sometimes it appears as just a philosophical school. But nowadays there is revivalism in Hinduism and Hindus are trying to learn from fanatics of other religions. However, in Punjab its fanaticism and communal character is even less pronounced as - first of all, it is in minority, secondly, here its main contender is Sikhism to which Hindus consider as a part of their own religion. Moreover, they had fought together against the Muslim rulers, so they have a historical alliance too. The negative side of Hinduism is that it is ridden with rituals, rites, superstitions and caste consciousness though here it is slightly better in this respect if compared with its counterparts in the rest of India. Muslims and Christians are very few in number as being nearer to border, most of muslims migrated to Pakistan during partition. But one thing that is worthmentioning about muslims of Punjab is their
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cordial relationship with Sikhs. At present most of muslims, who have been left in Punjab, are living in Malerkotla area or are belonging to 'Mirasi' caste (i. e. a caste of muslims associated with music and singing). Nawab of Malerkotla raised his voice against the killing of sons of tenth Sikh guru and Mardana, an ancestor of Mirasis was a companion of the first Sikh guru. So both these groups of muslims have cordial relations with sikhs. To sum up the religious situation of the state, it can be said that though, fundamentalism in Sikhs and superstitious thinking in Hindus is present to some extent, yet on the whole, religious hold is not a much strong barrier to the spread of rationalism. Politics - The worst factor in Punjab is the conspicuous role of religion in the politics of state. Akali Dal is the political party of Sikhs which gives a communal twist to religious problems, instead of presenting politico-economic policies for the people. As in the rest of India BJP represents the orthodox Hindus, and has a considerable base in urban areas. Moreover the negative point of this situation is that secular forces in politics, which can oppose this communalisation of politics are weak in the state. Communists and other secular parties are are not in a position to play a dominant and effective role. Congress party, which claims to be a votary of
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secularism competes the direct communalism of Akalis and B.J.P. with their indirect communalisation of politics. Due to this a true secular politics is not emerging. Rather, politics has become a major source of spreading communalism. Similarily another source of communalism is associated with transnational politics. Pakistan instigates the communalism and fanaticism among Sikhs so that these may be used as a tool against the rest of India. Thus it can be safely argued that roots of communalism and fundamentalism in the state are not in the minds of people but in the politics of this region. The events of eighties are to be seen in this context. To sum up the overall objective conditions in the state following conclusions can be drawn : 1. Economically, the state is far ahead than the rest of India. Standard of living is comparatively better, agricultural farming has been mechanised, communalism and religious hatred is not a part of people conciousness and Sikhism itself opposes various superstitions and rituals. All these factors are favourable to rationalist and scientific thinking. 2. On the other hand, a sizeable section of population still can not afford proper health care and education, civic amenities are very poor, after green revolution economic development is in stagnation, the influence of fundamentalist forces is considerable
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especially among Sikhs, the political forces which dominate the scene use religion and even communalism for their own motives. These factors pose a hinderance to the development of rationalist thinking among masses. If we compare these with the rest of India positive factors outweigh the negative ones but are not sufficient to provide a genuine atmosphere for dominance of rationalism. So there is a great scope for development of rationalism, but for this, rationalists have a lot of work to do, devising a strategy which uses the positive factors effectively and counteracts the effects of negative forces. -----

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The Dark Patches


In every culture there are positive as well as negative factors. The negative factors are harmful for the society as a whole but continue to exist as these serve the vested interests of some individuals. The social development depends upon the success of struggle against such negative factors and this struggle is fought on many fronts by various forces. These forces or agencies of change have their specific fields of work and their own long term and short term goals. Tarksheel Society Punjab has its own vision for a better society, for which it is working as a long term goal. But in that long march to a just and humane society, there are many obstactles posed by evil forces in the society. Some of these negative forces which come into direct conflict with Tarksheel Society Punjab are described in this chapter. There are many other forces and factors which are responsible for ills of society and the fight against them may be more important but in this chapter, only those forces are highlighted which are the direct and immediate concerns of Tarksheel Society Punjab. Babas and Chelas :- In every village and town there are persons which are known as 'Babas'. 'Baba' is a word of respect used for grandmen. But here it is used
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for exorcists. 'Chela' is another word suffixed with such persons. The literal meaning of Chela is disciple. Usually when such exorcists are not much established they are called 'Chelas', because then they are disciple of some Baba and in due course of time they themselves are called as Babas. People with various problems visit to these Babas. Sometimes the problem is expressed directly to the Baba but on other occassions Baba himself tries to guess the problem. The guesswork is done in a congregation held on specific days of a week. This is to give an impression on persons gathered there, that he knows everything with his super-natural powers. The guess is actually a vague categorisation of problems generally faced by our people. For example, he would say in the congregation that here is a person who has a health problem, he should stand up and come to me. Similarily he asks for persons having problems in family relationships, in financial matters, having problems with their children or problems with their cattle or business or agriculture and so on. Then he describes the problem as the wrath of an evil spirit. Further he prescribes certain remedial measures to overcome these problems. These measures are some practices related to exorcism and in the name of these measures he makes money from them.
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Many persons which are taken to these exorcists are actually psychic cases or facing some acute problems of life. Instead of getting them treated from psychiatrists or solving their problems they are taken to 'deras' (headquarters) of such exorcists. Here they are further made to believe that they are possessed by an evil spirit. For this purpose an atmosphere is created with beating of drums, burning of incenses, chanting of some couplets and by the actions and responses of other disciples present there.Very often, physical torture is also applied to make forced confessions from the person that he\she is possessed by an evil spirit. They perform various tricks to impress their gullible clients. A typical example is to draw out masaans (Ashes of a dead person) from the body of a person. Actually it is a chemical trick in which a reaction takes place between aluminium and mercuric chloride. A person with some health problems or depression is told that he has been fed masaans by his enemy which is responsible for his poor physical or mental state. The Baba assures him not to worry as he will draw out the masaans with his spiritual powers. Then a aluminium container is attached to his belly in which ashes are produced and shown to convince the patient. In fact, before placing container on his body a small amount of mercuric chloride is rubbed inside the container which is absorbed into the walls of the
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container due to porous nature of aluminium metal. The reaction between aluminium and mercuric chloride starts slowly and in a few minutes sufficient quantity of alminium chloride is produced which is presented as the 'ashes of the dead, he has been fed.' Poverty, ignorance, lack of scientific attitude, limitations of present day medical sciences, mental tensions and many other such factors make the people to go to exorcists. Sometimes they feel relieved of their problems due to their blind faith or catharsis of emotions at such places, but, in reality, they are exploited at various levels. Once they move along this track, they become uncapable of facing and solving their actual problems. In addition to this, these places known as deras also attract many antisocial persons and are a source of narcotics to addicts. So clearly these are the sores on social structure of Punjab. Rituals and Rites :- Then there are a large number of rituals and rites which are just a wastage of time, money and energy. Though, through some rites people express their feelings in an accepted way and some rites provide guidelines to act on during important events of life (e.g. birth, marriage, death etc.), but most of these have outlived their utility. Tarksheel Society Punjab educates the people against the rituals, which are burden on the individual or society and it also
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provides alternatives to ceremonies associated with religion. Superstitions :- Some general superstitions are usually present in every society and our society is also not free from such superstitions. There are certain good and bad omens e.g. sneezing, at the beginning, is considered a bad omen for a journey or starting of a new project ; meeting with certain persons or certain animals is also considered inauspicious while some other persons may be considered auspicious and there are hundreds of such petty superstitions. Roots of these beliefs may lie in some ancient practices or in some mere coincidences. Sometimes, it may be explained that how could these practices and beliefs have been evolved but mostly the origin of these had lost in the history. Many people are clear about the worthlessness of these superstitions but they continue to follow them as a cultural habit. The main harm of following these superstitions is that these mould the thinking of the person to an unscientific pattern. So Tarksheel Society Punjab constantly exposes their futility and educates the people to shun outrightly such beliefs and practices. Low status of women - Low status of women is another blot on Punjabi life and culture. Due to this fact there is a strong desire for a son to be born. The birth of girl child brings grief to the family. This desire for a male child pushes them to go to Babas, which
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make claims that with their spiritual powers, they can bestow (bless) a couple with son. It is the law of nature that half of the children born would be male. So in half of the couples, visiting a Baba, a son is born and these couples become devotee of that Baba and futher publicise that this Baba has supernatural powers. While the other couples search for a new Baba with 'real spiritual powers' and try once again. In this way, business of babas and population of the country both flourish well. Now with the technical advancement, it has become possible to diagnose the sex of a child in mother's womb. This combination of technical advancement and social backwardness, has given rise to a new malpractice i.e. aborting the female foetus. Tarksheel Society Punjab is fighting against this new social evil. Besides being inhuman, this practice will seriously disturb the male-female ratio which is already very low on the female side. This phenomenon has also clearly demonstrated that technical developments alone cannot solve the problems of society unless social development and people's enlightenment keep pace with it. The low status of women is a matter of concern for Tarksheel Society Punjab from another point also. Women not only bear the burden of family but the grunt of male members also. In our society, there is no way for women to vent
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up their emotions. So the women are more vulnerable to psychological problems. Their living conditions combined with the prevailing socio-cultural set-up makes them the easy victims of superstitions and unscientific viewpoints. Tarksheel Society Punjab recognises this fact and tries to combine its enlightenment move with the uplift of women. Caste system - Caste system is one more well known evil of our society with which we have to struggle continuously. Though its hold has weakened considerably, still it is far from considering all people as equal human beings. Marriages have not crossed the boundaries of caste. Even in progressive families inter-caste marriage is a rare thing. Rationalism strongly opposes the division of man and man on the basis of religion, caste, colour, race etc. So fight against caste consciousness is another sphere of our activity. Religion - Besides all these and many other negative factors is the hold of religion on minds of people. When this religious hold is used for political manoeuvring, it results in communalism and fundamentalism. Every religion, after it is fully established, becomes a hinderance to the further development of human thought. This happens because every religion claims that its teachings and explanations are the
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ultimate truths. Whereas social reality change with time and the limits of human knowledge about the world also expand. But what is written in holy books or uttered by the founders of religions is revered to such an extent that it is considered beyound any criticism or revision by their followers. Though most of that may get obsolete with respect to new social reality or is proved clearly wrong with new findings of human knowledge, the followers of religion dogmatically adhere to them. Thus religious thinking, with its face towards past, results in stagnation instead of development. In comparison to dogmatism of religion, science keeps its findings open to testing and further improvement. In this way science always marches forwards to new horizons of knowledge. The scientific attitude is necessary not only towards natural phenomenon but towards social problems also, because scientific attitude alone opens up the way towards the progress. Therefore, it is also an important task of Tarksheel Society Punjab that the minds of people are freed from the clutches of religious dogmatism, fundamentalism and communalism and a scientific temprament is created so that the problems of life and society are solved. ----39

Amateur Psychiatrists
Like every society, Punjab too has a considerable number of psychic cases. According to psychologists, at any time, about ten percent of population is suffering from some kind of psychological problems and as a result shows behavioural disorders. What type of behavioural patterns are shown under mental tension and how those are percieved by the society, is largely determined by the culture of that area. In an advanced educated society these phenomena of abnormal behaviour would be taken as psychological problems and the help of a psychologist or psychiatrist would be sought. But, like many other underdeveloped societies, in Punjab this is considered as an act of supernatural power and the person is taken to some exorcist who is supposed to have ability to control over such forces. This person is called a Chela or Baba. Only a few persons know about psychiatrists. It is in this context that Tarksheel Society Punjab has made a very meaningful contribution to correct the approach towards such neurotic or psychotic cases. Before we discuss how the Tarksheel Society Punjab has acted to make an impact in this field let us have a look at the external factors responsible for producing abnormal behaviour.
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We know that certain persons have a predisposition towards certain neurotic or psychotic disorders. But it is also clear that such mental disorders are usually precipitated by his/her environment or external factors. These external factors are closely related with the social, economic or cultural set up of a particular society. The main factors which are commonly responsible for such disorders are sexual factors, emotional factors, economic factors, cultural factors, family factors etc. The role of these external factors in individuals life is discussed below. First of all let us take the sexual and emotional factors. Sex is a powerful psycho-physiological need of a person. While in the other animals it is mainly limited to physiological level but in man it has also acquired a strong emotional position in the psyche of an individual. So the famous psychologist Sigmund Freud considers it the strongest emotion of man. According to him mental make-up of a man totally depends upon his sexual passions and the reactions of outside world to his sexuality. We may not totally agree with his sweeping generalisations of considering sexuality as basis of all human behaviour, as a large number of other factors are responsible for the psychological development of a man, nevertheless it is a fact that sexual factors play a very prominent role in the psyche of any individual.
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The act of sex is related to procreation, so it can not be allowed to happen in an irresponsible way. Moreover it may also result in blind competition and querrels among various members of a social group. So every society has set some norms to fulfil this need in a regulated way, usually it is allowed only inside a marital relationship. But these regulations by society are not fully according to individual desires. Moreover, ours ia taboo society, particularily in the field of sex, where social restrictions are heavily against the individuals longing to have pre-marital or extra-marital sexual relations. Many persons have to suppress their sexual desires to such an extent as to produce psychological fall outs. For example, the passion of sex is very strong beginning from puberty, but up to marriage no means are devised for its fulfilment, so this period i.e. from puberty to marriage is very critical. Similarily after marriage, problems may arise if any of the partner is sexually not compatible with the other. Moreover in some cases boredom arising out of monotony of sexually relations results in seeking partners outside the marital relationship (this tendencey is more prevalent among men). Likewise there are many other causes due to which individual desires related to love and sex come in conflict with social sanctions. To a certain extent this contradiction is unavoidable and does not do much harm to the
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individual or the society, but when this contradiction exceeds the bearable limits, it tries to get solved in favour of one side i.e. individual or society. If this contradiction is solved in favour of individual then social problems arise ; on the other hand if individual desires are suppressed by social sanctions then psychological problems crop up in the individual. Thus the social norms should be sufficiently elastic to provide channels for the discharge of individual passions as well as capable of preventing the disintegration of social life. But in our society norms are quite rigid and therefore this contradiction is very powerful giving rise to social as well as psychological tensions. Actually no social norms or moral values are for ever. Technical advancement influences the social life as a result of which, the basis of pre-set social norms erodes. For example, contraceptive means have delinked sexual activity from procreation. Due to this, the basis of constraint of sexual activity only within marital relationships has eroded. Similarily industrilisation gives rise to urbanisation where strict rules of rural community do not work. Movies, T. V. Video etc. have exposed the life styles and ways of liberal societies of west to our people. So these tools of media are playing a very conspicuous role in exciting the individual passions of our people,
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especially of younger generation. In the changed life style of our times, marriage is postponed to later age, as a result of which the period between puberty and marriage has increased considerably. Many other factors can be enlisted which are accentuating this process. But it is also a well known fact that cultural values change at a slower rate than the technical developments, which is called cultural lag in sociological language. In this situation, on one hand the above-mentioned factors are inciting people to satisfy their personal desires, on the other hand, our cultural values do not allow this to happen. Intensified contradictions create mental tensions and in many cases these mental tensions give rise to abnormal behaviour, which may be depression, hysteria or any other such form. In some cases persons consciously do some strange actions. Our people, instead of analysing the root cause of such behaviour or activity, consider him/her to be possessed by spirit of somebody already dead. This factor of our culture also provokes some persons to consciously plan his/her activities in such a way that, while those activities are considered to be the work of some supernatural power, he/she can continue his/her affairs under the cover of such misinterpretations. How this happens can be understood from the glimpses of some cases that were referred to our organistation.
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In one case, clothes were found torn, household articles disappeared and many were found broken. After sometime letters were found signed by the ghost of a dead girl in which apart from some other things, demand for a pink Chunni (Chunni - a light head cloth for women) was constantly mentioned. The family sought the help of many exorcists and occultists but of no use. Ultimately the problem was solved by Taraksheel Society Punjab. After investigating the problem thoroughly, it was found that their 26 years old daughter was responsible for it. She had done all that damage and letter-writing in a subconscious state of mind. The demand for pink chunni symbolically presented the demand for marriage. Due to cultural training of shyness among girls she was unable to express her desire in a straight way. So unable to suppress her desire, sub-concious mind took over the command to express this demand and also found an outlet for her irritation and frustration by damaging the household articles. It is a typical case in which a desire for sex or love is expressed by the subconscious mind through some abnormal acts and is then interpreted as something supernatural. Usually such cases are of unmarried girls or of married women who are unsatisfied with their marital relationships. Male members are less prone to this type of acts, as for them
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many other channels are available to vent up their desires. The girl/woman is usually taken to dera (headquarter) of some exorcist who firmly puts in the minds of the subject as well as other family members that it is a case of evil spirits who are possessing her and then the nefarious activities of such babas begin doing a great psychological as well as financial exploitation. Moreover many times these babas themselves or their assistants establish sexual relations with those girls/women and these female patients pretend to get relief due to supernatural powers of baba and the exploitation goes on. As said earlier, sometimes a conscious planning is done to exploit the prevailing faith in ghosts etc. for their own purposes. For example, some common land near a village in Ropar district was covered with natural vegetation. People crossed that area in mornings and evening without any hesitation. Then strange events began to happen there, pieces of bones and bricks were showered upon the passer-by and bizarre sounds were produced. Common people considered that an evil spirit was wandering there and avoided that area. When members of Tarksheel Society Punjab investigated, it was found that a young man of the village had some illicit relations with a girl. It was conscious planning of that man to use the area as their
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meeting place by creating fear about that area among the village folks. In one case it was not a desire for sexual act rather a fear of sex which was responsible for periodical fits in a well-educated girl. The case could be solved as the onset of this problem coincided with the fixation of her marriage. And in another case of abnormal behaviour, the boy was having some apprehensions about his ability to do sex. In the prevailing cultural tradition of arranged marriages many cases sought help from Tarksheel Society Punjab, where the marriage partners were not according to their expectations (or rather fantasies). All these cases needed psychological counselling and not the charms or mantras of babas. Similarily there are economic problems which generate tensions finally resulting in depression, anxiety and other such psychological ailments. Whereas the worries of lower strata of society are associated with the fulfilment of their daily needs, the persons belonging to upper economic class are involved in a neck breaking race to out-pass each other. With market economy and consumerism engulfing our society more and more, the role of this economic factor has increased manifolds. In one case, there were five daughters in a lower middle-class family. In that family, some puzzling
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incidents had been occurring for some time. These incidents happened mainly with the belongings of girls like their clothes, books, photographs etc. were found torn or damaged. On analysing the situation it was found that their mother was doing all this, though subconsciously. Actually with their meagre financial resources, the parents were finding it very difficult to arrange their daughters marriages. So the mother felt her daughters as a great burden and thus a hatred was created in her subconcious mind towards the daughters which was unconsciously expressed in that way. In this case their economic condition was not the sole factor as they were able to fulfil essential necessities of daily life, but were unable to arrange for their dowries and other major expenses of marriage. So it happened when the economic factor combined with the custom of dowry prevalent in our culture. In another case, some gold and currency notes worth few thousand rupees were found missing. But before this, certain substances like Sandhoor (Vermilion), red yarn, rice, grains of other cereals etc., were found in the form of Tunas (incantations), and this happened many times in this or that corner of the house. Actually this was a case of pure theft by younger daughter-in-law of that joint family who came from a relatively poor family. With this theft she wanted to solve two problems - first to help her poor parents,
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secondly to raise her status in the family by bringing some articles which were shown as gifts from her parents. To conceal all this she performed some planned activities in such a way so that loss of gold and money would be taken as the work of some evil spirit let loose on the house by some outsider enemy of the family. As described earlier, our society is passing through a transitional phase. The joint family structure is giving way to nuclear families. But this is not going on smoothly. Economic considerations, emotional factors or other socio-cultural factors exert pressure to remain in joint family, whereas the desires for freedom, privacy, enjoyment etc. pull to disjoin the joint family and establish a nuclear family. This is again mainly a problem of women and is responsible for a very large number of psychological problems. In majority of cases, where such problem exists, it is not expressed directly in a straight-forward way as to disjoint a family is not considered a good act according to our socio-cultural values. So this desire is expressed in an indirect way by creating problems in family through clandestine activities. As these activities are done in a concealed way, the family, unable to solve the riddle, soon seeks the help of some tantrik or godman. Non-availability of proper respect and status to
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any member of family has also been recognised as the root cause of many psychic cases. Similarily alcoholism or other such bad habits create problems in family life. A number of causes, universal in nature or particular to our Punjabi society, may be enlisted which provide the basis for psychic cases, and a variety of cases can be described where involvement of some ghosts, spirits etc. is assumed, but in fact they are the conscious or sub-conscious menifestations of some underlying problem. Though these are related to sociocultural-economic issues of our society but we have to educate, counsel or provide a solution to such problems of individuals, in order to prevent supernatural misinterpretations of these events. We try to educate the people that these are psychological manifestation of such and such social or individual problem and has to be dealt as such. Otherwise, all this abnormal behaviour or consciously planned monstrous activities are presented as a proof for the existence of super natural entities i.e. ghosts, demons, spirits etc. Thus the practical necessities have compelled members of our organisation to assume the work of amateur psychiatrists or psychological counsellors. Inspite of the fact that they had no formal training in this field, many members of our organisation have
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acquired requisite competency in solving the cases of abnormal behaviour and mysterious happenings. Work of Dr. Kavoor presented a model for our workers to deal with such cases and practical experience taught further lessons. As said earlier abnormal behaviour is usually precipitated by some external factor/factors. We try to find out those external factors by analysing his/her emotional, economic or familial problems and suggesting the ways to overcome. But in some cases the main factor may be genetic, harmonal or some functional disorder of brain requiring medication or other professional treatment, then they are referred to psychiatrists. It is a fact that a few years back, not many people had any knowledge about psychiatrists but after the Tarksheel Society Punjab had come into existence, more and more people are getting aware of the psychiatrists and visiting them. Our success rate in solving cases of mysterious happenings is almost cent percent. These cover a large variety of events, for example - clothes are found cut, burnt or damaged ; jewellery, currency notes or other such valuable items disappear from almirahs/chests ; household articles are broken or damaged ; drops of blood are seen ; sand, filth or other such material is found mixed in eatables ; pieces of bricks or stones are showered on house. These are some of the most
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common happenings but many many other such miraculous events are reported to Tarksheel Society Punjab for which help is sought. These acts were formerly attributed to the work of some ghosts, evil spirits etc., but now almost all these cases are referred to Tarksheel Society Punjab and the person responsible for all these acts is invariably discovered, whether he/ she does those acts consciously or sub-consciously. The course taken for analysing such cases usually involves following steps - to interview all the members of family or persons related to event one by one, to know the history of the family, to diagnose the main problems which are being faced by the whole family or some of the family members, to note the behavioural patterns of family members, to work out the presence or absence of suspected persons when the reported events occur, to note who reports the events most frequently and likewise other necessary information is collected. From all this information the culprit and his/her problems are guessed. Then the suspect is made to confess by simply putting his/her problems before him/her or by other pressure tactics. He/she is asked to abandon this, some counselling is done, hypnotism may be used if necessary (e.g. if acts are done subconciously). As can be easily imagined, the culprit does not want to be identified before his/her family members or in neighbourhood, so in lieu of concealing
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his identity he is made to promise that he will not do that kind of acts again. On the other hand, intensity of problems faced by some member/members is put before the whole family and suggestions are made to settle those problems. Tarksheel Society Punjab may not have been successful in preventing all people from going to Babas or Chelas, but certainly it has brought a great change in the thinking of people and has provided a viable alternative to that. Actually there are many external factors like social, economic and cultural set up of the society which do not provide a desirable environment for a better human living. Similarily there are many internal factors like genetic predisposition, harmonal imbalance or certain physical ailments and deformities which are yet to be overcome by the scientific development. Thus the struggle to bring an end of such non-sense may continue for a long time but presently our main task is to make the people aware of the reality behind such phenomena, to inspire them to bring a change in the external reality (i.e. social, political, economic, cultural environment) for a better human life and to work for the progress of science which has overcome and will overcome the problems of human beings. The Tarksheel Society Punjab is working exactly in this direction. ----53

Relevance of Rationalism
Rationalism is the philosophical view that regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge. Historically, rationalism emerged as a rival to empiricism and sensationalism against which rationalists have sought to show that our most certain and significant knowledge comes not from sense experiences but reason. In their view, reason has the power to arrive at truth directly, bypassing the empirical and sensory levels of cognition. This was clearly underestimation of the role of sensory perceptions. But it was the rationalism of 17th century and after that great developments have been occured in the field of human thought and the rationalism too has been put in the right form.Today's rationalism or the rationalism as we apply it, is actually the scientific method of cognition.This may be described in the words - "from living perception to abstract thought and from this to practice" or in the five well-known steps of scientific methodology i.e. observation, analysis, interpretation, hypothesis testing and then varifying or changing the hypothesis. So it is the objective rationalism in which reasoning starts from objective reality. A bit more clarity about the concept of
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rationalism can be obtained from the Encyclopaedia Brittanica which describes rationalism in the following words : "Common to all forms of rationalism is the belief that the world is a rationally ordered whole, the parts of which are linked by logical necessity and the structure of which is therefore intelligible. In ethics, the rationalism holds the position that reason, rather than the feelings, custom or authority is the ultimate court of appeal in judging good and bad, right and wrong. In religion rationalism means that all of man's knowledge comes through the use of his natural faculties, without the aid of super-natural revelations. Reason, for rationalists, thus stands opposed to many of the religions which have held that the divine has revealed itself through inspired persons or writings and which have required, at times, that its claims be accepted as infallible, even when they do not accord with natural knowledge." From the above description it can be noted that rationalism as a way of thinking is very relevant against irrationalism, fideism, superstitions, religious bigotry,
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ritualism etc. And as described in earlier chapters all these ills are gripping our society severely. The theory of Karma, faith in predestined fate of every man, the unreal assumptions of various gods, demons, spirits, ghosts, hell and heaven or rebirth etc., and belief in astrology, palmistry, faith-healing and othe such nonsense has greatly shackled the forward march to a better society. Rationalism outrightly rejects all the above mentioned baseless thoughts and thus paves the way for progress. Rationalism says that there is a cause behind every act, nothing happens without any reason. This basic formulation of rationalism is very important for our people to grasp. The religious and irrational thinking convinces people to take all the miseries of their lives as a predestined course. But the rationalism, which declares that there is a cause for every problem, provokes them to find the cause of their miseries. When the people will find the cause, they will also make efforts to remove that undesirable cause. Thus the rationalism guides to solve the individual as well as collective problems. This is an age of science. It is the development of science which has enabled the man to reach at its present dominating position in the world. But India is lagging far behind in scientific development. The main
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reason behind this underdevelopment is the dominance of unscientific and irrational thinking for centuries among our people. So to spread rational and scientific thinking among masses is the much-needed task for us which is being carried on under the banner of Taraksheel Society Punjab. -----

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11.

The Challenge
Godmen, saints, yogis, sidhas, gurus, swamis and all others who claim that they have acquired miraculous powers through spiritual exercises or divine boons, can win an award of one lakh rupees from Tarksheel Society Panjab if they can perform any one of the following miracles. 1. Read the serial number of a sealed-up currency note. 2. Produce an exact replica of a currency note. 3. Stand stationary on burning cinders for half a minute without blistering the feet with the help of his god. 4. Materialise from nothing an object we ask. 5. Move or bend a solid object using psychokinetic power. 6. Read the thought of another person using telepathic powers. 7. Make an amputated limb grow even one inch by prayer, spiritual powers, Lourdes water, holy ash, blessing etc. 8. Levitate in the air by yogic power. 9. Stop the heart-beat for five minutes by yogic power. 10. Walk on water.
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Leave the body in one place and materialize in another place. 12. Stop breathing for thirty minutes by yogic power. 13. Develop creative intelligence or get enlightened through transcendental or any other type of meditation. 14. Speak an unknown language as a result of rebirth or by being possessed by holy or evil spirit. 15. Produce a spirit or ghost to be photographed. 16. Disappear from a film when photographed. 17. Get out of a locked room by divine power. 18. Increase the quantity by weight of a substance. 19. Detect a hidden object. 20. Convert water into petrol or wine. 21. Convert wine into blood. 22. Astrologers and palmists who hoodwink the gullibles by claiming that astrology and palmistry are scientific, can win our award if they can pick out correctly - within a margin of five percent error - those of males, females, the living and the dead, from a set of ten palm prints or ten astrological charts giving the exact time of birth correct to the minute, and places of birth with their latitudes and longitudes. This challenge is governed by the following
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conditions:1. The person who takes up the challenge whether he wants the award or not should deposit with our office bearer an earnest deposit of Rs. 1000. This deposit will be refunded in the event of his/her winning the test. This is just to keep away those bent on cheap publicity who would only waste our time, money and energy. 2. After the earnest deposit is made, the claim of the person will first be tested by our local committee on a mutually agreed day. 3. If the person fails to face the test or loses in the preliminary test, his deposit will be forfeited. 4. If the person wins the preliminary test then final test will be conducted in public by state committee of Tarksheel Society Panjab. 5. If a person wins the final test, his deposit will be refunded together with our award of one lakh rupees. 6. All tests will be conducted under fraud-proof conditions.

State Committee, Tarksheel Society Panjab (Regd.)


H.O.- Near Bus Stand, Ludhiana (Pb.)

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