অধিকার প্রতিষ্ঠা করে ‘হিউম্যানিস্ট অ্যাসোসিয়েশন’। দিনটা ছিল ১০ ডিসেম্বর ১৯৯৩ সাল, ভারতের বহু ভাষাভাষি পত্রিকায় খবরটি অত্যন্ত গুরুত্বের সঙ্গে ছাপা
Indian Express
NEW DELHI FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1993
Nation
When humanism will be the only religion
by Abhijit Dasgupta
CALCUTTA — While the country is going up in flames over religion, the City of Joy has taken the lead in trying to provide a healing touch with the setting up of a new organisation, the Humanist Association of India (HAI) which, among other things, will campaign to remove the compulsory registration of religion as one of the criteria in job and other admission forms.
The Association, set up on September 11 when the controversial Parliament of Religions was inaugurated by the Pesident here, has already got the green signal from the UN that the registration of the religion cannot be binding on any individual during the filling up of job and other admission forms.
Birol Mullick, a top official in the UN public health department here and a physician by vocation, has taken the lead in forming the association. Mullick told the Indian Express that he had written to the UN Information Centre director on August 13 asking whether the registration was mandatory. The UN sent a reply on September 7 alongwith some booklets which “clearly demonstrated that the registration was not compulsory.” In fact, Mullick added, most of the European nations had already done away with the need to fill up the religion slot regarding jobs and other admissions.
Incidentally, the Calcutta University has already done away with the religion criteria since the last academic session, a pioneering effort the lead for which was taken by the Senate member and famous physician, Abirlal Mukherjee. Speaking to Indian Express, Mukherjee said, “A question remains about caste in which we have to have reservations for the listed tribes. In the university, we have found a way out by giving a five-mark per cent advantage for such candidates. But the religion slot has been totally abolished.
Mullick said that his organisations would now build up public and international pressure on the Government to abolish this “inhuman and degrading system of registration.” The HAI has already written to five Novel laureates and Carl Sagan for their views. It has also applied for membership to the umbrella organisation based in New York, Alliance of Secular Humanist Society. “We expect the membership soon and this will make our fight even
