Combatting godmen in India
According to the World Bank, in 2016, 67% of Indians lived in rural areas. These people don’t have much, but they tend to be very superstitious which makes them easy targets for exploitation. And there is no shortage of tricksters, Swamis, and godmen traveling from village to village using magic tricks to demonstrate their ‘powers’, and promising villagers a better life, in return for their money.
Since 2004, Professor Narendra Nayak has made it his job to expose these charlatans. He travels the villages of India holding workshops at his own expense, showing how the tricks are done, how to detect fraudsters, and how to think critically, all presented with his trademark sense of humor. Now, at the age of 67, after conducting well over 2000 workshops, Narendra is thinking about retirement.
We, at Atheist Alliance International, have the greatest respect for Narendra’s dedication to the people of India and his commitment to rationality. So the AAI board decided to make a financial contribution to help fund his recent tour and we sent AAI member, Rustam Singh, along to learn the trade. Perhaps, we’ll be able to keep these wonderful workshops going after Narendra finally hangs up his spurs.