THE MOVEMENT FOR THEDEVELOPMENT OF RATIONALISM IN

WEST BENGALSabyasachi Chatterjee

In the 20th century, a number of steps has been taken, both at thegovernmental and non-governmental level, to popularise science.Several magazines were published. Science was included as a subjectin the school curriculum. Different science clubs gradually came intoexistence. Simultaneously, the hegemony of superstitions wascontinued. There was the co-existence of modernity and superstitionsat the same time. Thus, there was a gulf of difference between theworld of learning and the world of trust.

Popularisation of science and science club movement might beregarded as the very primary level for the cultivation of scientificknowledge and wisdom outside the mechanised formal education.1 Butsensibilities of reasoning and scientific interpretation of day-to-dayincidents were not focused before the independence so much. Later, in1961, by publishing a journal named Manabmon, Dr. DhirendranathGangopadhyay tried to establish a school of conscious and scientificthinking in West Bengal. He tried to clarify the relationship betweenscience on the one hand and human mind-animal world-social life onthe other.2 In the late sixties and in the seventies, many of the radicalintellectuals of West Bengal, realised the necessity of a science-consciousness movement for building up mental awareness,3 but asthey could not develop this ideology into a parallel potential culturalmovement, they also failed in their political goal. And as a result ofthat, they remained as excluded iconoclasts, far away from the people.The Utsa Manus (primarily Manus), published in 1980, had a broaderperspective than that. Afterwards, some people’s science and people’scultural organisations of the same temperament were formed. With theco-operation of the Utsa Manus and their friends, many reports ofinvestigation for seeking truth behind the so-called supernatural eventswere published. Questions were raised about blind faith and attitudes.

In 1982, the Ganabijnan Samanway Kendra, Paschimbanga wasformed. Science organisations working on different issues thusassembled under an umbrella. But till then, no organisation was formedwith the single aim to spread rationalist thought only. Later, in 1985,the Yuktibadi Samity was formed.

On 1st March 1985, Bharater Yuktibadi Samity was established. 4

On 1st March 1987, it was renamed as Bharatiya Bijnan o Yuktibadi

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Samity.5 They believed: ‘Rationalism is not only a method of judgementand interpretation, rationalism is an overall philosophy of life – amethod of world observation – a world view.’ 6

But the circumstances under which the Yuktibadi Samity wasformed, was a controversial issue. Rajesh Dutta, a reputed activist ofthe Yuktibadi Samity emphasized the importance of time and theinfluence of a radical thinker, Dr. Abraham Kovoor.7 Dr. Kovoor’sBegone Godmen! Encounters With Spiritual Frauds (1976) created anenvironment to fight against superstition. In Bangla language,Bhabaniprasad Sahoo wrote a book titled Bhoot-Bhagaban-Saitanbanam Dr. Kovoor (1982). All these were the weapons of publicity forthe science workers fighting against supernaturalism. Even the namingof the Yuktibadi Samity was also influenced by Dr. Kovoor. The nameof Dr. Kovoor’s organisation was the Rationalist Association. But themain area of emphasis of Dr. Kovoor’s movement was protest againstsuperstitions. On the other hand, the Yuktibadi Samity realised that ithad to contest against not only superstitions, but, it was also necessaryto evolve a general materialist attitude. So the necessity of such anorganisation was much needed. In this context, Bharatiya Bijnan oYuktibadi Samity was established.

But the history of the formation of Bharatiya Bijnan o YuktibadiSamity, published by the Samity itself, revealed a different story. On 1st

March 1985, ‘some socially conscious, able to evaluate culturalrevolution, activists of the liberation struggle of the oppressed people,undaunted, committed youths, after a discussion in a small flat at DumDum (72/8 Debinibas Road) formed an organisation- Bharater YuktibadiSamity.’8 Naturally a question had been raised that it was not a resultof sustained activity of the organisation or persons at that time. On thecontrary, the Samity was formed by the desired effort of some daringyouths.9 From the available writings of Prabir Ghosh, the foundersecretary of the Samity, the fact remained undiscovered for many times.For that reason, people did not know that the Samity was the outcomeof a gradual evolution of rationalist thought within the Bengali middleclass. There were many other personalities, associated with the sciencemovements, who were actively participating in the Samity. For instance,Dr. Dhirendranath Gangopadhyay was the first president of thisorganisation and eminent science communicators like AmitChakraborty, Aparajito Basu, Jugalkanti Ray, Shankar Chakraborty andothers were also associated with this organisation at the formativeperiod.

In 1985, the process of rationalist thinking was stimulated by aradio programme, broadcast from the A.I.R, Kolkata. On 18th July 1985

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at 8 P.M, A.I.R, Kolkata (Kolkata A) broadcast a programme Jyotishniye du Char Katha. 10 In that programme four fortunetellers, who wereclaimants of supernatural power, confronted the interviewer withembarrassment. Influenced by that programme, some people wereattracted to the rationalist movement in general. They expressed theirsupport and even some of them came forward to participate. Manylisteners sent their individual opinions. A series of discussion-debatetook place in the newspapers. Sonarpur Kristi Samsad staged a dramaBhago Bhoot Bhagaban, written by Sangramjit Sengupta. Thus themedia had played a positive role in creating rationality among thepeople.

From 1985, Yuktibadi Samity organised shows against superstitionsand supernaturalism as Aloukik noy loukik in suburbs and the villages.In the beginning, the main focus was the disclosing of the magic andtechniques of the so-called babajis and matajis. Later, it attempted tohammer the subjective attitude and beliefs of the people such as theconcept of evil spirit, religious fanaticism, fatalism etc. Thoseprogrammes were appreciated by a large section of the common people.The people, directly not involved with the Samity, also organisedprogrammes in the same name. Initially, Dr. Bishnu Mukhopadhyayand Dr. Amit Chakraborty helped to make the aforesaid programmesuccessful. Dr. Amit Chakraborty, the programme executive of theA.I.R, Kolkata, was the producer of the programme Jyotish niye duChar Katha (talks on astrology).

In January 1986, the first volume of the book, Aloukik noy loukikwas published.11 In it, the techniques of so-called miracles were vividlyexplained. With the publication of the first volume, the movementreceived a momentum. The movement spread beyond West Bengal withthe help of that book. Gradually, it was gaining ground in other Bangla-speaking states, viz., Tripura and Assam. Moreover, it crossed thebarrier of the country. Feeling oneness with this movement, BangladeshBijnan O Yuktibadi Samity was formed in 1987-88 in Bangladesh. Themovement was mainly concentrated in Dhaka, but it spread over toBarishal, Chattogram, Rajshahi, Pabna, etc. Letters from those placeswere sent to Bharatiya Bijnan O Yuktibadi Samity, which were furtherproof of the influence of this movement.12

In January 1986, Pavlov Institute and Utsa Manush tried to organisea joint platform with the Bharatiya Bijnan O Yuktibadi Samity. It wasproposed that either the Samity should join with the RationalistAssociation, established by Kovoor or it should function as a branch ofPavlov Institute or Utsa Manush. But Bharatiya Bijnan O YuktibadiSamity refused all the proposals because its members thought that the

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activities of these two organisations were temporary and fragmentarywhereas their own movement was a widely based cultural movement.13

In the middle of 1986, James Randy, a leader of the USA’srationalist movement, wrote a letter to the Bharatiya Bijnan O YuktibadiSamity. In that letter he approached the Samity to help the Committeefor scientific investigation of claims of the paranormal. But the Samityrefused to do so because it thought that James Randy and hisorganisation had limited their activities within the investigation of‘supernatural force’ only.14 According to the Samity, the rationalistmovement in general and investigation of the mysteries of supernaturalpower were not the same.15

About its aims and objectives, the Samity in its ‘Memorandum ofAssociation’16 said that the one of the main causes of the failure of themovements for the liberation of the oppressed masses of India lay inthe absence of proper emphasis on the organisational effort, to enricha cultural movement. To them, it was necessary to organise a culturalmovement. The objective of that movement would be to launch an allround mass cultural movement or cultural revolution. The Samity aimedto achieve it. The members would try to clear all misconceptions andnon-transparent ideas. The Samity thought that the main enemies ofthe rationalist thinking, the weapon of the oppressed class, were so-called religion, spiritualism and subjectivism. If one failed to highlightthe anti-rationalist spirit of institutional religions among the people ina proper way, then the idea of freedom from superstition, freedom ofconsciousness and the dream of ending of exploitation would remainas an object of imagination only.

So, Bharatiya Bijnan o Yuktibadi Samity tried to achieve freedomof the oppressed class through the process of rationalist school ofthinking which in the long run would be turned into a total revolution.And the aims of this revolution were the transformation of the socialsystem, change of structure and finally termination of state. Here adoubt might be raised regarding the process of initiating the movementin the existing hierarchical social structure. According to the Samity,the ruling class always created a favourable cultural super-structure toprotect the infrastructure of the system. So if one wanted to break thesystem then he/she should have to hit both, as because their relationshipswere double-faced.

From this idea, the Yuktibadi Samity had worked. It worked throughseventy-five branches in different areas of West Bengal (North Bengal,Bankura, Medinipur, Hooghly, Howrah, South 24 Parganas and NadiaI & II).17 The structure of this organisation was not conventionallyhierarchical, as parallel branches were set up with an equal status. The

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branches, in that structure, could plan and implement their programmesindependently.18

About the activities of the Yuktibadi Samity, Rajesh Dutta, statedthat up to 1989, the main activity of the Yuktibadi Samity was to unmaskthe story of the so-called supernatural activities. While the Samity wasvery much vocal about the total revolution, the main emphasis wasgiven on the unmasking of the magical activities of matajis and babajis.The Samity had exposed the so-called supernatural activities of IpshitaRay Chakraborty (June 1988), Hujur Saidabadi (February 1991), MorrisSerulo (15th October 1992), in a scientific way. Again sometimes, thesupernatural propaganda of some places was their target, such as:Hanabari of Baranagar (October 1993), the fire of Agarpara (April1993), ghosts of Salt Lake (October 1994), etc.19

The Yuktibadi Samity got its registration in 1989. It had thrownchallenges of an amount of fifty thousand rupees to the astrologers andthe so-called heroes with supernatural powers, if those could be proved.In the nineties, there was a change in approach. In October 1991, itwas decided that a mouthpiece of the organization, the Yuktibadi, wouldbe published, and launched at the 1992 Kolkata Book Fair. That decisionwas executed.20 The contents included the selection of science-orientedwritings of the past, secularism, public service, evaluation of the socialreformers, people’s health movement, etc. in 1992-93, when cholerabroke out in West Bengal, the state government marked it as an entericdisease, but the Yuktibadi Samity, under the leadership of Dr. BishnuMukhopadhyay conducted a survey in I. D. Hospital at Beliaghata andcame to the conclusion that the disease was cholera, and not an entericone. Necessary statistics and information were submitted. 21

In 1993, the Yuktibadi Samity had played a very glorious progressiverole in the Nirbikalpa samadhi episode of Balak Brahmachari22 (afterthe death of Balak Brahmachari his disciples refused to accept him asdead and preserved his body as a living being) and came in the frontlineheading of newspapers. The news was published in all the dailies. In1996, through a documentary in the B.B.C, the rationalist movementof Yuktibadi Samity gained a wide international publicity.

In this span of time the Samity’s main lapse was its inability tomaintain a good relationship with other science movements. It wasevident from the pages of the Yuktibadi magazine that the Samity wasvery critical about many science workers and organisations since theYuktibadi magazine’s beginning from 1992.23 But afterwards they hadrealised that this type of isolationist attitude would not serve anypurpose to push forward the entire science movement. Then it joinedwith the programmes of other organisations.

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In 1996, Prabir Ghosh, the founder secretary of the Samity, wassacked from the Samity on the charge of corruption and treachery.24 Anumbers of cases were filed against him. During this legal procedureof the case, the rationalist movement suffered in general. After thatincident, all other members claimed that they only were working asBharatiya Bijnan o Yuktibadi Samity. But the old activists, whose nameswere found in the Yuktibadi magazine, were working with the groupwithout Prabir Ghosh. The activities also remained the same under thesecretaryship of Debashis Bhattacharya. On the other hand, the factionof Prabir Ghosh had tried to spread the rationalist ideals through itsbest-sellers, i.e., the series entitled as Aloukik noi Loukik. 25

But this story of the progress of rationalism in West Bengal wasnot only a history of inner-conflicts of any group. It might not be deniedthat the aims of the movement had reached a positive goal. Throughthe criticism of fellow-workers and organizers, the arena of thismovement had not become smaller. With a view to organising a vastpeople’s cultural movement, with all fellow individuals andorganisations, the rationalist movement moved on. So, the rationalistmovement of this state did not remain confined itself in unmasking themagic of so-called supernatural events; on the other hand, it had becomea part of overall science movements of the state.

NOTES AND REFERENCES1. Ashok Bandyopadhyay, Ganabijnan Andolan O Dr. Ganguly, Manabman, Vol.

38, No. 1, Kolkata, January 1999, pp.15-19.

2. Ibid.

3. Sabuj Mukhapadhyay, Ganabijnaner Pathe Paschimbanga-Ekti SamkshiptaParyalochana, Mukhapatra Ganadarpan, Vol. 8, No. 6, p.19.

4. Prabir Ghosh, Sanskriti: Samgharsa O Nirman, Kolkata, 1993, p.67.

5. Ibid., p.80.

6. Ibid., p.122.

7. Interview with Rajesh Dutta, Kolkata, 10th January 1999.

8. Prabir Ghosh, op. cit., p.67.

9. Aniruddha Dutta, Prasanga Ganabijnan Andolan, Manabman, Vol. 35, No. 4,Kolkata, 1996, p.300.

10. Prabir Ghosh, op. cit., p-73.

11. Prabir Ghosh, Aloukik noi Loukik, Vol.1, Kolkata, 1986.

12. Interview with Rajesh Dutta, Kolkata, 10th January 1999.

13. Prabir Ghosh, Sanskriti: Samgharsa O Nirman, Kolkata, 1993, p.73.

14. Ibid., p.74.

15. Ibid., p.72.

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16. Bharatiya Bijnan o Yuktibadi Samity, ‘Memorandum of Association’, date –notmentioned, pp.1-7.

17. Interview with Rajesh Dutta, Kolkata, 10th January 1999.

18. Bharatiya Bijnan o Yuktibadi Samity, ‘Memorandum of Association’, BishesDrastabya should be noted, date and page number was not mentioned.

19. Bharatiya Bijnan o Yuktibadi Samity demanded that “Drug and Magic Remedies(Objectionable Advertisement) Act 1954” should be implemented rigorously. TheSamity had published the full text of this act and its Bangla translation in itsmouthpiece Yuktibadi, Special Number on Law, Vol. 3, No. 3, 1 March 1994. Alsosee, Rajesh Dutta edited, Yuktibadi Tadanta Samkalan, Kolkata, 1998.

20. The editors were Prabir Ghosh and five others.

21. Bishnu Mukhopadhyay, Antrik noi Cholera, Yuktibadi, Vol. 2, No. 4, Kolkata,1993.

22. Pradeep Chakraborty, Balakbabar Kissa, Yuktibadi, Vol. 2, No. 4, Kolkata, 1993.

23. It was the general feature of the writings of Prabir Ghosh that was evident in theseries of books titled Aloukik noi Loukik and Sanskriti: Samgharsa O Nirman.Here mention might be made of the serial writing of Debashis Bhattacharya underthe title of Prasanga Juktibad in Samity’s mouthpiece Yuktibadi.

24. Expulsion of Prabir Ghosh, Yuktibadi Special Calcutta Book Fair bulletin, 1997and other leaflets, published by the Samity.

25. Published books of Prabir Ghosh were Aloukik noi Loukik, (already four volumeswere published), Pinki o Aloukik Baba, Aloukik Rahasya Sandhane Pinki, AloukikRahasyer Jale Pinki, etc.