minority status to atheism?

[ankursaxena_321@yahoo.co.in]

Does Atheism need a minority status in india? in my view or understanding minority status is provided to a social group(based on religious, linguistic, race etc) that is in less numbers in compare to other communities and prone to exploitation because of their less numbers. minority status provides special rights to safeguard the interest and identity of its group.

so i think we atheist/agnostic are minorities and should be provided minority status so that we may disseminate our ideas freely as other group can do. at present we are vulnerable to attack of many religious fundamentalist, and some laws that forbid to criticize the other groups belief( in spite of that it is our fundamental duty to promote scientific thinking according to our constitution).after getting minority status we can administer our own institution to promote our views etc. and many other thing and most importantly it will establish us a well defined and identified group.

so i want to hear from all of u (respected members) that what are ur views about this. and can we get this status by legal battle as other group(JAIN) got ?

regards for all

[LordPlaguies]

Really? You want the smartest group to gain a minority status? Oh boy. No, we don't need one.

[Raz2802]

No need for minority status for atheists!

Our constitution believes in free speech. So we can profess what we like.

Problem may arise if the rulers behave like cowards and put restrictions on us so that someone else does not get hurt.

[arhemant]

Surprised to find few takers for this. This is something I've been wondering about myself.

Atheism in India is a disorganised movement and what's most troubling is that religious and political fundos actively find ways to silence voices of reason -- sometimes using the law, sometimes using force. So books are burnt (or banned). Galleries, artists and theatres are attacked. People are jailed for Facebook posts. Rationalists are murdered.

Now let me make my point.

People like us being the sort with little or no political/religious affiliation are sitting ducks for these lumpen elements. But what if we were to beat them at their own game?

Often, religious offense is quoted to carry out these atrocities against free speech. What if we were to assimilate under a legally recognisable ‘religious’ banner and start using that banner for good? For an example, sue the book burners citing offense to Saraswati, the goddess of learning.

Just an idea which I confess I haven’t thought through. Just for the record, I'm not a religious person. Please don't ban me.