Mangaluru: “Indian constitution has given every citizen the right ti practice the religion of their choice. Similarly it is the constitutional right of an individual to abstain from practicing any religion. No one has to live in this country at the mercy of any other religion,” said rationalist and thinker Prof Narendra Nayak speaking after releasing a special edition of ARSO Konkani monthly here at Sahodaya located at Balmatta on Sunday Dec 16th.

“Constitution does not differentiate with any religion and it does not say that ‘We the Hindu people, We the Muslim people, We the Christian people.’ The constitution clearly states ‘We the people of India’. So believer or atheist, everyone has equal right in the country. But it is sad that systematic efforts are being made to silence the dissenting voices, which is not a healthy development,” he warned.

“There are enough blind beliefs and irrational thinkers among the Konkani speaking people. At the same time one should not forget the famous rationalist and thinkers like D D Kosambi who was from the Konkani speaking community.

Similarly Kudmul Ranga Rao, an associate of Gandhiji who fought against social odds was also from the same community. Soon after Gauri Lankesh was murdered, the investigating team released a list of rationalist and thinkers who were on the hit list. Among the top four were Konkani speaking thinkers again,” pointed out the professor.