With over hundreds of religion, customs and tradition one has often indulged in practices which are against the idea of humanity in the name of religion. The idea of blind faith is the most talked about as it is adopted across the nation. Indian Atheist – a Facebook page is dedicated to promoting atheism in India working with the mission to built a society based on practicality.

As reads their bio on Facebook, Indian Atheists is not affiliated with any religion and has nothing to do with repressive religious identities that serve only to excuse all the suffering and abuse caused in their name.

A branch of Nirmukta - an organisation promoting science, freethought and secular humanism in India – Indian Atheist has over 1 lakh followers.

With conversations surrounding religions and beliefs, both for and against, becoming the daily norm, Nirmukta is a foundation that is attempting to bring in some objectivity amidst the outrage and hatred stemming from blind or misguided faith.

Basing themselves on reason, the people behind Nirmukta are enabling people to think differently about the norms and customs that so far were being passed on from generations unquestioningly. A community of freethinkers the NGO is spread across eight cities, namely Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Banglore, Chennai and Kochi.

An excerpt from the interview:

What is the Facebook page 'Indian Atheist' about?

Indian Atheists is a group comprising of individuals promoting Atheism in India and abroad. The Atheists who are behind the endeavor represent a diverse community that meets and discusses important issues online. Atheism in general is simply the lack of belief in god, but Indian Atheists as a group has a more specific agenda. In addition to the targeting of the notions of 'god' and 'religion', the goals of Indian Atheists are the same as those of Nirmukta:

To foster public discourse on science and religion in an objective manner.

To promote a naturalistic life philosophy as a moral and fulfilling alternative to supernatural religion.

To provide a platform for the free-thought community within India and South Asia.

To consciously work towards building a culture of Secularism.

To monitor genuine scientific controversies and expose the false ones.

To promote a secular public policy in keeping with our constitution.

To promote the principles of equality, communal harmony and basic human rights.

How was the page founded?

While Atheist thought in India is very ancient, the modern Atheism movement was late in coming to the subcontinent because of the corrosive impact of religions over Indian culture. Indian Atheists was first started as a facebook page in 2009, by the members of Nirmukta, an online gathering of freethinkers from India. The key driving force behind starting the page was the late founder of Nirmukta - Ajita Kamal

What bothers you about the various religions and faiths?

We are bothered by any belief that is not based on reason and evidence. This is primarily owing to the fact that such beliefs have historically been a constant source for harm and conflict. Even the history of India starts with a religiously driven partition. There is not a week that goes by when we don't come across the harms of religion. Honour killing over caste, caste discrimination, people fasting to death, absurd rituals that lead to the death of children and so forth. We are most bothered by this unnecessary suffering.

At a time when social media is a medium where one thinks twice while speaking about subjects like these, how do you channelise?

We constantly face a barrage of abuse, vile threats and occasionally even death threats as people do not agree with what we say. But we push through this because, this is something that needs to be done. And we have been able to build a community of people who look at things critically. It is a form of community building.

How much space do you give to religion, faith and beliefs on Indian Atheist?

Most of our time is spent on talking about faith and religion. We firmly stand by our stance of shaking the foundations of beliefs and will continue to do so.

Do you oppose the idea of religion?

While there may be certain beneficial qualities that some of the beliefs and practices of mainstream religions offer to humanity, there are none that cannot be replaced with reason and compassion. While there may be some good that can be achieved by dealing with moderate believers, there are plenty of other groups, both religious and secular ones, that are involved in having these conversations. In effect, religion has nothing useful to offer that cannot be gained by other means. And without religion, we wouldn't have the extraordinary amount of religious conflicts that we see today.

Are you affected by the existence of beliefs and religion that people practice?

I am deeply offended when it is acceptable as a society to justify discrimination on the basis of religion and caste. I see close friends and acquaintances following the advice of astrologers and numerologists to make important life decisions who later end up regretting these decisions. And as part of the regret, they spend even more money on these charlatans who prey on the weak and helpless constantly. I am both bothered and driven by these people.

How do you define Religious Fundamentalist?

A religious fundamentalist is a person who follows the 'fundamentals' of a particular religion. The fact that we refer to islamic jihadists and hindutvadis as 'religious fundamentalists' means that we agree that these are the people who follow their religion to the best possible extent. Religious fundamentalists scare me as they are not driven by reason, but by an unshakeable faith in their belief system. These people continue to drain the happiness from their own lives and the lives of people in society. They are dangerous simply because you cannot reason with them.