My favourite Skeptical Websites

This is a random list of websites I visit frequently.

Committee for the Scientific Investigation of the Paranormal: (CSICOP encourages the critical investigation of paranormal and fringe-science claims from a responsible, scientific point of view.

Secular Web: (Defending and Promoting Naturalistic World View)

Religious Detoxification: (If you are a deeply religious person do not go any further)

About Atheism: (A wealth of information on atheism and related topics)

Atheism Web: (Introduction to Atheism)

The Skeptic: (Dedicated to the promotion of science and critical thinking,and to the investigation of extraordinary claims and revolutionary ideas)

Aheist Network: ("This site is for the atheist: The new atheist, the seasoned atheist, and the "about to become" atheist". Also hosts a nice Webmail Service (free & premium), perhaps the only one hosted by atheists/agnostics)

Adherents: (Information/statistics about over 4,200 religions, churches, denominations, religious bodies, faith groups, tribes, cultures, movements, ultimate concerns, etc.)

Talk Origins: (Exploring the Creation/Evolution Controversy. Hosts the text of "Origin of Sepecies By Means of Natural Selection" by Charles Darwin)

TPM Online: (Online edition of "The Philosoper's Magazine". Please check their Battleground God: Can your beliefs about religion make it across our intellectual battleground?)



Skepticism Links: (Links to Skeptical websites including the some of the above ones!)

Update on Amma and Measels

The latest (28th April 2006) Media release from Communicable Diseases Network Australia, repoduced from the website of Departtment of Health and Aging, Government of Austraila. The original article can be accessed here: www.health.gov.au/internet/wcms/publishing.nsf/content/cda-cdna-pr-meassles-upd.htm

Media release
28 April 2006

The Communicable Diseases Network Australia (CDNA) today issued an updated warning about measles following the detection of 31 measles cases in five states and territories in the past fortnight.

On 21 April, the CDNA issued a national measles alert following the discovery of seven cases in Western Australia over Easter that were linked to a national spiritual tour.

The cases were all in people who attended or interacted with those attending workshops held by the Amma (Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi) group in Fremantle at the end of March and the beginning of April.

The Amma Australian tour also included meetings and retreats in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Some of these gatherings attracted crowds of up to 1000
people. The tour group departed Australia for Singapore on 17 April.

There have been 15 measles cases reported in New South Wales, 12 in Western Australia, two in South Australia and one each in the ACT and Victoria.

Twenty of the cases are in children aged one to 11 years. The remaining 11 cases are in adults aged from 17 to 58 years. All but six of the adults were not immunised against measles. All the children who contracted measles are unimmunised.

Dr Hall reinforced last week’s alert message and said anyone aged under 45 years who attended the Amma meetings and events and who has not previously received two doses of measles vaccine should contact their medical practitioner to arrange urgent MMR or measles vaccination.

'It is important for doctors to be alert for any new measles cases and to report such cases immediately to their relevant State or Territory Health Department or Public Health Unit,' he said.

'It is also important to advise your doctor or emergency department in advance that you are presenting with measles-like symptoms so arrangements can be made to prevent spreading measles to other patients.'

Measles can be a severe disease, particularly in adults and very young children. The incubation period for measles is around 10 days but can stretch to 18 days.

Early symptoms of measles include a cough, runny nose, high fever, conjunctivitis or a red blotchy rash that may appear three days later starting on the face and spreading to the rest of the body.

The CDNA prepared a fact sheet about the measles outbreak last week. It is available at: www.health.gov.au/cdna

Ammritanandamayi and Measles!

Here is an interesting news item. This is a press release issued by the Communicable Diseases Network Australia on 21 April 2006.

Media release
21 April 2006

The Communicable Diseases Network Australia (CDNA) today issued a warning about measles following the discovery of seven cases of the disease in Western Australia over Easter that are linked to a national spiritual tour.

Six of the cases of measles are in unimmunised children, aged between two and 10 years, who attended or interacted with those attending workshops held by the Amma (Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi) group in Fremantle at the end of March. The seventh case is in an unimmunised adult.

The Amma Australian tour also included meetings and retreats in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Some of these gatherings attracted crowds of up to 1000 people. The tour group departed Australia for Singapore on 17 April.

CDNA Deputy Chair, Dr Vicki Krause, said anyone aged under 45 years who attended the Amma meetings and events and who has not previously received two doses of measles vaccine should contact their medical practitioner to arrange urgent MMR or measles vaccination.

'It appears the measles virus in the Western Australian cases was introduced by overseas visitors with measles attending the Amma tour gatherings. The disease has spread to local families with unimmunised children and adults involved with the tour group,' Dr Krause said.

'Because of high local immunisation rates in recent years, measles is now a rare disease in Australia. Measles is however a severe and highly infectious disease so it is vitally important that anyone not immune to measles who has been potentially exposed be vaccinated as soon a possible.

'The vaccine is available free from general practitioners and immunisation providers. It is important to note that homeopathic remedies do not provide protection against measles.

'Anybody who has had contact with the Amma group and develops measles-like symptoms should seek urgent medical care.

'It is important that if symptoms do occur to phone the doctor or hospital in advance so arrangements can be made to prevent spreading measles to other patients.

Dr Krause said State Public Health Units in Western Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland were working closely with the Amma organisation to identify people who attended the national tour.

'Australian doctors also need to be aware of this situation and any measles cases that may develop should be urgently notified to the relevant State or Territory Health Department or Public Health Unit so that further spread of the disease is minimised,' she said.

The incubation period for measles is around 10 days.

Early symptoms of measles include a cough, runny nose, high fever, conjunctivitis or a red blotchy rash that may appear three days later starting on the face and spreading to the rest of the body. Measles can be a severe disease, particularly in adults and very young children.

The CDNA has prepared a fact sheet about this measles outbreak. The fact sheet is available at: www.health.gov.au/cdna

Does the above report require any comment? Amma and her followers claim that she has powers that cures even incurable diseases. But now in Australia she has become the conduit of spreading this highly infectious disease, which had become a rare disease in that continent after a stringent immunisation programmes.

The report says that more than a thousand assembled to greet this lady. But here in India she meets, on a regular basis, thousands upon on thousands of credulous people. As no screening is done to bar those who are carrying the germs of infectious diseases, her popular but contreversial HUG THERAPY has become an extremely dangerous exercise in spreading various communicable diseases in our impoverised country. The local authorites should take immediate action to prevent this. And her devotees should exhibit a little more rationality.

Swami Shraddhananda : Godman in Jail

Death Sentence for Swami Shraddhananda

The Karnataka High Court confirmed, 19th September 2005, the death sentence awarded by the sessions court to Swami Shraddhananda alias Murli Manohar Mishra for the sensational murder of his wife Begum Shakira Namazi alias Shakereh Khaleeli.

Terming it the "rarest of rare cases", In their order, the division bench comprising Justices S G Bannurmath and A C Kabbin, said:

"The accused had murdered his wife in a diabolical and a well-planned scheme. As such the death penalty imposed on him is liable to be confirmed. Anything less than a penalty of greatest severity for any serious crime is thought to be a measure of tolerance that is unwarranted and unwise. The sessions court is justified in awarding death penalty to the accused."

The 25th Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge, Bangalore, B.S. Totad, on 20th May 2005 had convicted Swami Shraddananda in the sensational murder. The judge had held him guilty on two counts: murder (Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code -- IPC) and destruction of evidence (Section 201 of the IPC). The sessions judge had described the murder as a gruesome motivated killing for gain. "The prosecution has established this beyond all reasonable doubt," he said in his 239-page judgment.

Shraddananda allegedly killed Shakira, former wife of a diplomat, Akbar Khalili, and buried her body in a corner of the compound of her palatial bungalow on Richmond Road on April 28, 1991.

Extracts from the Bangalore edition of "The Hindu" ( )dated 21st May 2005:

"Swami Shraddananda, the main accused in the case, in 1986 married Shakira, granddaughter of a former Dewan of Mysore, Sir Mirza Ismail. She had divorced Mr. Khalili in 1985. A native of Madhya Pradesh, Shraddananda's original name was Murli Manohar Mishra. He decided to get rid of Shakira as he wanted to acquire her property, C.V. Nagesh, lawyer for the State, said.

Shraddananda gave sleeping pills to Shakira leading to her death, put her body in a wooden box, put it into a pit dug up in the bungalow compound and had it covered with the help of servants, Mr. Nagesh said. Shraddananda continued to live in the bungalow thereafter.

On being questioned about the whereabouts of Shakira, Sharaddananda said she had gone abroad. He gave the same answer to Shakira's daughters.

One of the daughters of Shakira lodged a complaint with the police who failed to make any headway for years. It was only in 1994 that the first hint of foul play surfaced when a constable, Mahadeva, got a servant of Shraddananda drunk and made him confess. In April 1994, the skeleton of Shakrira was dug out from the pit. The police arrested Shraddananda and lodged him in prison on March 28, 1994.

Shraddananda was present in the court on Friday.

Mr. Nagesh urged the court to award death sentence to the accused considering it as "the rarest of rare cases of pre-planned, wanton and cruel murder." Shraddananda had breached the trust of "the woman who had beauty, wealth, status and had sacrificed everything for his sake," he said.

C.H. Hanumantharaya, who defended Shraddananda, said it is not the rarest of rare cases and pleaded for life imprisonment to his client considering that he had already spent 11 years in jail and was an exemplary prisoner.

Shraddananada urged the court to show leniency as he was 69 years of age and a heart patient. He had an aged father in Madhya Pradesh whom he had to take care of.

DNA and superimposition techniques were used to identify the skeleton as that of Shakira. Hair and blood samples of her relatives matched with the sample collected from the bone marrow of the skeleton."

Extracts from "The Hindu", Bangalore dated 20th September 2005:

The prosecution's case was that Shraddananda, earlier known as Murli Manohar Mishra (69), had drugged Shakereh, placed her body in a coffin, and buried it in a corner in the compound of her sprawling bungalow on Richmond Road, Bangalore, on April 28, 1991. Shakereh married Shraddananda in 1986 after divorcing Akbar Khaleeli, a former diplomat. The prosecution contended that Shraddananda wanted to usurp Shakereh's property and continued to live in her bungalow after her death.

Complaint

Shakereh's daughter, Sabah, lodged a missing-person complaint with the police. In April 1994, Shakereh's body was exhumed and Shraddananda was arrested.

The Bench said in its order that Special Public Prosecutor H.S. Chandramouli had rightly held the murder fell in the category of "rarest of rare" cases, and the sentence ordered by the lower court should be confirmed. Shraddananda's lawyer opposed the death penalty. The Bench said that though there is not enough material to show that Shakereh met a violent end, she was administered a drug and died in her sleep. "Though the act was not brutal, the planning by the accused indicated a scheming and diabolic mind."

More on Amrithanandamayi

Today I have come across an article in the net which is reproduced here. The original location is here: Mata Amritananda – Fake / Doubtful God

Couple of months ago, there was a very strange warning advertisement inserted in the selected Malayalam newspapers. [blue]"Legal action would be initiated against anybody who irresponsibly spreads or publishes wrong information pertaining to my wife's death, which is a suicide"[/blue]

It was about the suspicious death of a French lady, Caroline Abidbol (44), which took place under mysterious circumstances at "Amrithapuri" Ashram on August 5th. The curious advertisement by her husband, Dr. Rajen Ragavan, from France raised eyebrows since it appeared in RSS Malayalam daily "Janmabhoomi" and "Kerala Kaumudi" on August 10 when the preliminary investigation was incomplete.

What apparently motivated the husband to issue such a warning was the earlier news reports especially in "Deshabhimani" and "Madhyamam" dailies about the suspicious death which took place at "Amrithapuri", the Headquarters of Matha Amrithanandamayi at Vallikavu in Kollam district of Kerala,. One news report on the incident, for example, said that the dead body, after falling from the eighth floor of a building within the Ashram, reached Karunagappally Taluk Hospital with the head severed from the body.

Even before the advertisement appeared on August 10, a fax message in Dr. Ragavan's name reached newspaper offices ascertaining that his wife's death was suicide. However, soon after the death, Ashram authorities informed reporters over phone that Caroline's husband was one Dr. Paul, a citizen of Mauritius. It is not yet clear whether Dr. Paul and Dr. Ragaven are the same. And, this is not the first instance of such suspicious deaths of about a dozen in the same Ashram - all of which still remain as clouded in mystery in absence of proper investigations by the concerned authorities. For example, like Caroline, one Ramanatha Iyer from Mumbai had fallen to death from the 12th floor of a building in the Ashram on September 6, 2001. His wife at Mumbai, however, informed the curious policemen over phone that her husband was remaining hearty and healthy in a far off Gulf region. That still leaves this question as to who this mysterious Iyer is!!!.

The first mysterious death on record connected with the Ashram was of Subagan (alias Sunil Kumar), Amrithanandamayi's own brother. When the "Matha" was in her original name [u]Sudhamani[/u], the brother reportedly opposed her move to establish such an Ashram. Amidst this internal fiasco within the house, Subagan's body was found as a hanging from a tree one fine morning.

One of her ardent devotees, Narayanan Kutty (Vellappally House, Madathil Parambil, Kodungallur, Thrissur District), died under mysterious circumstances within the Ashram on April 4, 1990. Complaints were submitted to the Chief Minister demanding a Crime Branch probe as well as before the Ist Class Magistrate Court, Kodungallur, with Amrithanandamayi as the first accused/respondent. Although the Kodungallur Court ordered for a police investigation, no known action has been taken so far.
Yet another suspicious death was that of Pradeep Kumar, a close relative and devotee of Amrithanandamyai. Notably, Pradeep Kumar's death took place amidst ongoing financial disputes of Ashram between him and Sugunan, Amrithanandamayi's father.

Duramdhar, a historian and son of Chirackal Raja of Kannur, was an inmate within the Ashram. A bachelor, his death on July 15, 2002, was not informed to his relatives by the Ashram authorities, who learnt it from local people after a week.

nother mysterious death within the Ashram was of Bhaskara Das, a Sanskrit Pandit. The dead body of an Ashram inmate Sidha Raman (son of Bima Rai, Kesava Nagar, Bijapur village, Basavan Bagewadi Taluk of Karnataka) was located from the backwaters close to the Ashram on May 2, 1998. Similar dead bodies of unknown Ashram inmates were found from water on Western side of the Ashram on November 29, 1996, and from Southern side on April 10, 1997.

Two years ago, a foreign devotee hired a taxi from the Ashram to Thiruvananthapuram airport. After reaching the airport, the bewildered taxi driver found his passenger dead! A few months before that, the police found a group of crying young children under mysterious circumstances late in the evening at KSRTC stand, Kollam. On questioning, the children from Trichur revealed that they were Ashram inmates, from there they “escaped" following mysterious death of their fellow mates, and pleaded not to sent them back to the Ashram. Interestingly, although several complaints on all these incidents were forwarded to the authorities, especially by the rationalist body "Bharatheeya Yukthivadi Sangham" and the CPI-M youth wing DYFI, no action had been taken so far even during the CPM-led LDF Government headed by E. K. Nayanar. Notably, the Tourism Minister in LDF Cabinet, E. Chandrashekharan Nair, took the initiative to start the "Amrithanandamayi birthday boat race" in the backwaters of the Ashram each year. Apart from the present UDF Chief Minister A. K. Antony, the Union Minister of State for Urban Development, O. Rajagopal, is a known devotee of the "Matha". On the previous day of the recent Cabinet reshuffle, Rajagopal gave an interview in Asianet announcing his decision to leave politics and join the Ashram as an inmate when his present term in Rajya Sabha ends next year.

What do all these mean? Is the Ashramam, same like other divine locations, stands above rule of law? It seems that neither the secularists nor even the atheists are concerned about such frequent murders and dead bodies. Also the watch dog of democracy, the media – the press and the journalists as well, are just becoming “devotees” of these god men, as we find them in the case of saibaba. The attitude of our chief minister and other ministers are quite known to us. [ i] The Press Club building of Puttaparthy was constructed by sai baba and all the scribes were gifted gold rings on the occasionThe article reproduced here is dated 11-24-2003

Amrithanandamayi

Mata Amrithanandamayi

(The following blogs were earlier published in a different blog which has since been removed by me)

The phenomena of godmen has grown enormously recently in India. Eventhough India has alway been a haven for godmen, the modern communication facilities such as Cable Television and Internet have helped them to extend their reach and influence to a much larger circle. Earlier we had a Saibaba or a Mahesh Yogi who made it into the big league. Now we have Sri Sri Sri....Ravi Shankar who held sway over the spirituality mongers for some time recently. It seems his glamour has also taken a beat because of overexposure. The Mata Amritanandamayi of Kerala seems to have got the upperhand amoung these goden especially after her highly publicised 50th birthday hangama, "Amrithavarsham" in which even the "scientist" APJ Abdulkalam,president of India, participated. The presence of such bigwigs gives an additional publicity to these crooks. In addition to this, western followers from Europe and United States give an additional glamour to them. Huge donations from western devotees are being pumped into their ashrams. Incidents of criminal activities have been reported from many of these ashrams.

Dissent is not just allowed in their ashrams, which is understandable. What is not is, the physical threats from their devotees against anybody who speaks against them. An example is that of the eminent writer in Malayalam,Paul Zacharia, who is threatend by the followers of Amrithanadamayi and Hindu Fascism. (Details are available here.) Even the government of Kerala is taking a hostile attitude towards people who speak out against her. The government has recently given permission to prosecute the author of a book titled Amrithanandamayi - Divine stories and realities, which in detail exposed this semi-literate godwomen and her followers.

An article published recently in the Malayalam publication Yukthirekha about the author's encounter with her about a decade back is published here with some slight amendments.

In the year 2003 the devotees of Amruthananda Mayi celebrated her 50th birth anniversary as 'Amrutha Varsham', the literal translation of which is 'the year of Amrutha'. A very large number of people from various walks of life wasted their valuable time and energy to express their devotion to this more or less illiterate woman. Well-known writers and politicians penned pure nonsense and got them published in established journals. Their clout over the media definitely helped them to publish these articles which otherwise would have been summarily rejected by any editor with commonsense.

I had an occasion to see this woman from close quarters and witness how she grants her famed 'darshan' to her devotees. This woman visited the city of Ahmedabad in the Indian state of Gujarat (now notorious for the anti-Muslim pogrom unleashed by Hindu fanatics in the year 2002) in late 1989 or early 1990 along with her close devotees. She was not as popular then as she is today. Since I have always been highly sceptical about everything called miraculous, I decided to have a close look at this woman who was increasingly gaining popularity.

When I reached the house where she was giving her darshan, I saw a small gathering of people outside the house. Some people were standing in line to get her darshan. The devotees were approaching her one by one whom she would keep her on her lap for a few seconds and pat on their back. She said nothing and did nothing else.

Since I could not focus my attention to this darshan for long, I decided to come out and wait outside until she starts giving her talk, 'prabhashanam'. On the veranda, photographs depicting her in various poses were displayed prominently for sale. I found it laughable to see a photograph in which she was shown wearing a harmless python around her neck and a crown on her head. I just can not figure out even today what her image builders and public relation managers had in their mind.

After giving her trademark darshan, it was announced that she would be giving her talk. I went back and waited to listen to her. To my surprise, she did not utter even a word apart from the chanting of devotional songs during her entire talk. In fact, even the chanting consisted of just a single word, 'Narayana', the name of a Hindu god. Her unquestioning devotees were fooled by a well-rehearsed drama, a pantomime to be precise.

This was the way it was performed, its modus operandi. She would start her prabhashanam with the chanting of 'Narayana..Narayana' for a few minutes after which she would for a second mumble something to her saffron-clad male assistant in his ears. This completely inaudible exercise would be followed by a lengthy talk by this assistant who would inform the assembled devotees that they were the words of the revered Amma imparted to him only a second before! In what compressed format did she deliver her message to her assistant? I still do not know. As I could not stand this drama for long, I left the place soon. Is it not criminal on my part to waste my precious time after this?

It is entirely possible that she did not say anything on that occasion because she was amongst a group of people who spoke a language other than Malayalam, the only language she was familiar with. On such an occasion it would have been gracious on her part to admit that she could not communicate in their language and then kept quiet rather than enacting this drama. Of course, this is too much to expect from anybody who claims fraudulently that he or she has divine powers.

If the crookedness of these self-proclaimed god- men and women are self-evident to me, a person with an average intellect, why is it not so for thousands of others who are thronging to these crooks? These followers are not necessarily ordinary people. Among them one finds individuals with high academic qualifications who have accomplished a lot in their own specialised fields. But when it comes to faith and religion, it seems they lose their balance, become meek followers and go back to whatever they imbibed in their childhood. They expect absolute certainty in their personal life and anything unexpected unsettles them. They become attracted towards anybody who promises solace in such a situation - religious priests, gurus, astrologers, soothsayers, television evangelists, it does not matter to them. If astrology fails, seek a guru. If one guru fails, seek another one. Freeze your rationality forever

Why & What?

In this blog I will post my views on various subjects. Since I am more curious on subjects related to skepticism, religion, paranormal phenomena, etc, there will naturally be an overdose of material on these subjects. Since I am an Indian who never left the shores of India, my posting will have an inevitable Indian dimension.