NEW DELHI, INDIA August 15, 2016 (En.Prothom.Alo): There’s a new minority to contend with and, at a little over 33,000, they are fewer in number than the Parsis. But the unbelieving atheists-counted separately for the first time in Census 2011 — just cannot agree with the figure. To be precise, only 33,304 of India’s 1.2 billion citizens have declared themselves as atheists in the census-a minuscule 0.0027 per cent. China, by comparison, is 61% atheist and the UK is 13%. In an overtly and fervently religious country, this low figure may not come as a surprise, but atheists are simply not buying it. They accuse the powers that be of everything from “dishonesty” to “unscientific” methodology-all aimed at “mischievously” skewing the data.
“There are millions of people in India who don’t subscribe to any caste or religion. They call themselves atheists, rationalists or non-religious people,” says G. Vijayam, Executive Director of the Atheist Centre in Vijayawada. “When you say there are only a few thousand atheists, it’s a distortion of reality,” Vijayam told IANS. “This is mischief done by orthodox people and the Census authorities, and it must be corrected.” In any case, the non-believers are upbeat. Ghosh, for instance, contends 22 per cent of the world population is now atheist, and that the number is growing. He believes the trend will be replicated in India as well. Adds Vijayam: “Atheism has come to stay. It’s a worldwide phenomenon and when opportunity comes they all will come out of religion.”