NEW DELHI: Question 7 in the 2011 India census form asked respondents to disclose their religion and if it fell in the list of six major religions, then write a corresponding code. Most atheists and agnostics found this to be a closed question that compelled a religious response.Though the union ministry of statistics and programme implementation had asked enumerators to record ‘no religion’ for the respondents who said so, yet technically, only the coded answers in the Indian census form were tabulated as classifiable data. In this scheme of things, a lot of minor or tribal religions as well as atheists and agnostics got lumped together in an unclassifiable category of 'Others'. In the 2001 Census, 0.1% (727,588 people) were reported as 'Religion not stated' and 0.6% as ‘Others’. Neither categories logically accommodate atheists.As far as administrative data goes, the state requires an enumeration of people born under certain communities and does not concern itself with individual beliefs. However, the complete lack of any official data regarding the number of atheists poses a larger concern. As Akshat Rathi, a doctoral student at Oxford University , UK, asks, “Given that the government doesn't do the job of counting atheists, who does?”In most other countries, academic research and government funded social surveys is what estimates the number of atheists. “Unlike other countries, religion has a great political and social bearing in India,” said Raghu De Souza, an atheist.Tarika Seth, a student of sociology at Lady Sri Ram College says, “As a secular country, India ought to officially recognize its atheists . But the lack of data can be a hurdle for sociologists who want to do a demographic survey or carry out any research on atheists.”Legally, atheism is a grey area. Recently, Shrirang Balwant Khambete, a practicing advocate, pleaded in a Thane sessions court that he wished to abandon all religious beliefs and be declared non-religious. His plea was struck down by Justice SS Todkar who said that though being non- religious is a personal choice, should the court sanction it legally, it could complicate matters for his family members as after his death, they would be caught in a legal trap on several issues like heir to the property or rituals etc.While apostasy (renouncing religion) is allowed under the right to freedom of religion and the Special Marriages Act of 1954 allows the marriage of people with no religious beliefs and non-religious and non-ritualistic marriages, there are no specific laws catering to atheists and they are largely considered as belonging to their religion of birth and caste for administrative purposes.This casual approach of the state, atheists say, is deplorable. Most of them feel very uncomfortable filling official forms, like hospital and gratuity forms, that require them to mention their religion. “Part of this discomfort stems from not being considered a ‘serious category’ in a country that celebrates religion like no other. Official recognition would go a long way in letting society know that atheism is not a ‘phase’ but an alternative way of life,” said Debarati Roy, a research scholar and sociologist.Challenging as it may seem, but the idea of an alternative way of life drove a group of young Indian atheists to set up Nirmukta, an organization dedicated to promoting science, free thought and secular humanism in India. Nirmukta, to begin with, was founded as a website in 2008 but as of today, it is a national organization with regional groups in eight major Indian cities .“As atheists, we want to promote a naturalistic and scientific life philosophy as a moral and fulfilling alternative to religion and blind faith. But officially, we need to be acknowledged as people without any religion. We insist that all forms should carry the category of ‘No-religion’ instead of pigeon-holing people into some sort of religion,” said Lalit Mohan Chawla, one of the Nirmukta administrators.“In our society, children are labelled as a Hindu child, Muslim child etc. without realising that they are just children born to Hindu or Muslim parents. It is a form of child abuse,” he added.Socially, atheism is still seen as unacceptable by many. “Some Census takers refused to record ‘atheism’ as an answer; some wrote down a religion corresponding to the person’s surname. When I insisted that he put down ‘atheist’, my census taker left it blank and said sir baad mein bhar denge (Sir, will fill it up later),” said Debarati Roy.Nirmukta administrators said, “This prejudice prevents many people from openly coming out as atheists. We hope to create a climate where people can easily profess atheism without getting a raised eyebrow in response. Most of us who have ‘come out’ are assumed to be either too conceited to believe in god, or rebels who just want attention, or some pitiful people who lost someone close and lost their faith.”The 10,000 member strong Indian Atheists community, the activist wing of Nirmukta, on Facebook has members engaging in active debate. Elsewhere on the web, there exists an exclusive atheist matrimonial website. There has been a great output of atheistic literature where writers adopt a critical stance against most practicing Indian religions. Bertrand Russell ’s Why I'm Not A Christian has inspired Ramendra Nath's Why I'm Not A Hindu. Richard Dawkins ’ The God Delusion has been translated into Malayalam as Nasthikanaya Daivam by Ravichandran.While the niche that Indian atheists are creating for themselves in society can be seen as a positive sign of a free-thinking culture, a large number of Indian theists feel atheism is an insult to the agency of god and the rich religious tradition of India. “I find the concept difficult to accept. How can you put anything above the existence of God and call it humanism? Humanity wouldn’t have existed without God!” said Radha Maheswari, a school teacher.Debarati Roy said, “While belief in god and/or religion is a matter of personal belief, and everyone is guaranteed that freedom as a fundamental right, religion is such a sensitive issue in India that atheists debunking popular religious notions can be met with a lot of resistance. However, social acceptance and government recognition for atheists seem like a requisite for a secular state.”