During his tumultuous campaign spanning
over three exhilarating decades, Premanand visited almost every village and
town in India exposing godmen and their miracles, conducting science workshops
for the educated and the laypersons, giving public lectures and
demonstrations. He visited about 49 countries with his mission to spread
skepticism and critical thinking. He was given a Fellowship by National
Council for Science and Technology Communication of Government of India for
his efforts to spread scientific awareness.
Premanand’s most famous target has, of
course, been Puttaparthi Sai Baba, the number one spiritual fraudster in India
for decades. Once he famously filed a Civil Writ Petition in Andhra Pradesh
High Court against Sai Baba under Indian Gold Control Act! He wanted the
government to proceed against Sai Baba for materializing gold from thin air
because it was violative of Section 11 of the Gold Control Act, which mandated
the permission of the Gold Control Administrator for manufacturing gold! Given
the clout godmen have among all strata of Indian society, it is not at all
surprising that the case was dismissed by the court. Premanand has compiled a
massive collection of records on the infamous murder of six individuals in Sai
Baba’s ashram on 6 June 1993 and has brought it out as a book (Murders in
Sai Baba’s Bedroom) running into more than 800 pages. This book is a
“collector’s item” for those who want to know the truth behind the shady
dealings in the ashram.
For more than two decades, Premanand
published Indian Skeptic, a monthly magazine, dedicated to
spreading rationalism and scientific temper. The magazine was an invaluable
link between various rationalist groups and individuals in our overwhelmingly
religious country. Through his Skeptic Book Club, he has brought out a number
of books exposing godmen and their antics. His most popular book,
Science versus Miracles, gives natural explanation of about 150
“miracles” including those commonly performed by the godmen in India.
In November 2006, Premanand was diagnosed
with cancer, and underwent a major surgery. But this did not prevent him from
continuing with his mission. Barely a couple of weeks after he underwent the
surgery, Premanand attended a meeting of rationalists in Bangalore in January
2007, when Bangalore Vicharavadi Sangha (Bangalore Rationalist Association) was
founded. He attended the 6th national conference of
Federation of Indian
Rationalist Associations (FIRA), of which he was the founder-convener,
held in Pune in April 2007 and accepted an award (for his contribution to
rationalist movement in India) presented to him by Maharashtra Andhrashraddha
Nirmoolan Samithi. He attended the 25th state conference of Kerala Yukthivadi
Sangam (Kerala Rationalist Association) held in December 2007 in
Thiruvananthapuram. Premanand continued to bring out Indian Skeptic every
month, without missing even a single issue until late 2008 and published a
number of books on rationalism through his Skeptic Book Club. Despite his
failing health, he completed and opened to public his long-cherished project
on 5 March 2009, a permanent exhibition on the Method of Science at Podannur,
Tamil Nadu. His last visit to Mangalore was in July when he had an interaction
with fellow rationalists and thinkers [See
Report]
His deathbed testimonial made barely a couple of weeks back,
on 20th September 2009, re-affirmed his commitment to atheism and other
rationalist convictions with which he lived by. This document has since been
published in a number of rationalist/science websites (http://nirmukta.com/
and
http://scienceblogs.com/) and will continue to be an inspiring document.
Source: Bangalore Skeptic
