From [Your organisation’s or your personal name and address with phone / mobile number and email address should be given here. If the letter is sent by an organisation, use the letter head of the organisation. This is important to ensure that the letter is a genuine one. Also send a copy of your letter to Sanal Edamaruku at his Helsinki address, or to his email given at the bottom of this letter.]

To Dr Manmohan Singh Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Prime Minister’s office South Block, Raisina Hill New Delhi 110011, India

Fax: 91-11-23019545/ 91-11-23016857

Respected Dr. Manmohan Singh,

We write to you to request you to do whatever your high office enables you to intervene on an issue that is central to Freedom of Expression in India and makes for a crucial test of the secular fabric of Indian democracy.

We are deeply concerned about blasphemy charges pressed by Catholic fanatics in Mumbai against Mr. Sanal Edamaruku, prominent rationalist and president of the Indian Rationalist Association (IRA), a national organisation founded in 1930 in Mumbai by R P Paranjpe. It strives to develop Scientific Temper, Spirit of Inquiry and Reform, and Humanism, as enshrined in the Constitution of India as Fundamental Duty. In March 2012, Mr. Edamaruku incurred the anger of the fanatics, when he exposed that water dripping from a statue of their deity was not a miracle, but was caused by faulty plumbing and capillary action. The charges against him are ironically based on Section 295A IPC, a draconian law from colonial times that criminalizes “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings”. As a result, an arrest warrant has been issued against him in June 2012. Currently on an extended lecture tour in Europe, Mr. Edamaruku has to fear for his freedom and safety when returning home.

Mr. Edamaruku is the president of Rationalist International, a worldwide forum for promotion of science and rational thought that includes luminaries like Richard Dawkins, James Randi, Richard Leakey and Lewis Wolpert. His persecution is considered a serious setback for civil rights in India. He has been invited by Index on Censorship in London and by other reputed organisations in European cities including London, Helsinki, Stockholm, Uppsala, Goetheborg, Copenhagen, Berlin, Madrid, Barcelona, Dublin, Cork, Galway, Belfast, Wroclaw, Katowice, Krakow, Szczecin, Poznan and Warsaw to speak about his case. In the coming months he is expected to deliver lectures in several cities in USA, Latin America and Australia. It is a highly alarming development that India – in the 21st century! – seems to allow a handful religious fanatics to bring an highly educated, honest and courageous man behind bars, because he dares to reject an absurd miracle claim in scientific terms. Often referred to as the largest democracy in the world, India is meant to be a secular state. To guard and guarantee democracy and secularism, wise men created one of the most prudent and progressive constitutions of modern times. The Indian Constitution enshrines – like a pillar of secularism – the Fundamental Duty to respect and develop Scientific Temper, Spirit of Inquiry and Reform, and Humanism. How can a man, who is dedicating his life to make this Fundamental Duty social reality, be prosecuted in the name of ignorance and religious fanaticism?

We call upon you, Honourable Prime Minister of India, and upon the Government of India to defend Free Speech and to give a clear signal that Indian laws are not to be misused to suppress scientific knowledge and reasonable criticism of religious mysticism. We ask you to intercede to ensure all charges against Mr. Sanal Edamaruku are dropped and he can continue his important public work without further harassment and danger for his freedom and security.

Respectfully,

[Signature] [Name]

Copy to: Sanal Edamaruku President Rationalist International Hiihtomaentie 16 B 14 FIN 00810 Helsinki Finland

Email: [email protected]