Your Stories of Atheism: Jailed, Beaten for A Facebook Post

This is an ongoing series featuring your stories of how you came to identify as an atheist. If you want to send me your story, you can submit it here. To read past stories, click here.

I was sent this story recently, and I have no way of confirming if it is true or not. I decided to share it with you all, anyway. If someone wants to get in touch with this guy and maybe confirm and shed light on more aspects of this story, please email me at mommy@godlessmom.com and I will ask him if he minds being put in touch with you.

Submitted anonymously, from “Anonymous Indian”:

I am a 21 year old college going student, basically from a small town of Maharashtra, currently living and studying in Pune. I am writing this story because I feel the need of bringing people’s attention to the issue that I have. I hope someone reads it patiently.

I have been framed under false charges of IPC section 295A, because I wrote a post about Mohammad on Facebook. One day, one of my dearest muslim friends, Shoeb, told me in a casual discussion that their last prophet, Mohammad (Age 53) had married Aisha (Age 9). We were mainly talking about how can people allow child marriages as we have heard about many, in our neighbourhood. But his replies drifted my mind to such different issue. His opinions were crazy. This was shocking to me.

He said, “What’s the news in it? Child marriages are seen everywhere”. He stumbled while talking about “Aisha”, Mohammad’s child bride.

I had to know was it true? So, out of curiosity I searched on Google and I found out it was true. At first, I didn’t trust the internet. How can it be possible that millions of people follow a pedophile like that? So, I read a few more books: English translations of the Quran, then in Marathi and Hindi. I also checked out a few more websites.

I felt disgusting after realizing the truth. I talked to myself, “Forget about it! Who cares? People will still find a logic to prove it right because their prophet did it. And they will never let anyone question about it, too.”

Then, I wrote a post on Facebook about this thing, questioning… “Do prophets and babas use people’s religious sentiments to hide their criminal activities? Because obviously a nine year old would hardly know what marriage means and nobody can ever justify a fifty=three year old man getting aroused by a nine year old girl. That’s pedophilia nothing else. He raped Aisha.”

Yes, I wrote that in the post on ‘my wall’. It was fourteen pages long with evidence from their own books with verse numbers. Many people commented. Of course, 98% of comments were just filled with abusive words from the “purely religious people”. I had wasted a month or two to know and understand their religion deeply. I am still reading it. I don’t care if people love such a pedophile but I don’t want to.

The next day I was arrested by police on a complaint of the same person who told me about it, Shoeb. Yes, that friend of mine had taken a print-out of my post when he saw it. He filed a case against me. I was in jail for almost 50 hours, i.e. two days of police custody. (I know what you guys are thinking, Indian cops can beat you for anything so this guy’s beaten up real bad) Of course, I got beaten up badly. The beating was painful. But after a while, When I thought about it, I kind of felt good.

A Buddhist guy like me, getting beaten up by a few Hindu policemen on the complaint of a Muslim guy… proves that secularism & equality my small town has developed. That’s something. Right.

Then, I got bail. The charges were so crazy, they said “this person was trying to bring out a riot between Hindus and Muslims in our city. He must be from a Hindu religious organization or a political party trying to defame Islam and Allah.”

Defame Islam and Allah? Really? I mean, is it even possible? If God exists and they say their Allah is the most powerful and the greatest…then why would such a super-natural power be bothered by me and my tiny little posts?

If you believe in God then at least wait for your God to punish me. Why file a complaint in police station?

If God is affected/annoyed/disturbed by a few words of a twenty-one year old guy, then he seems more like a normal human being to me.

Actually I’m just an atheist, I don’t differentiate or discriminate between religious people. I am a Buddhist by birth, having zero political contacts. Nobody forced me to write anything and I am taking complete responsibility for what I have written. That’s not what they have understood.

My parents are teachers. I am from a middle class family, but does it mean I have no freedom of speech? I have read & heard worse things said by politicians. How do they get away with such offensive and violent statements such as,

“Remove the military and police for 15 min, we (Muslims) will finish all of the Hindus in India”

This was a statement made by Akbaruddin Owaisi, a well known politician of MIM party which is based on Muslim votes & yes he made that statement in a public speech! Why are politicians are allowed to have such opinions?

Yes, my opinions are gonna hurt you emotionally but is it fair to jail a person for having an opinion? An opinion which is neither violent nor aggressive? Is it worth destroying my life? I have understood there is no freedom of speech in India. It’s just the speech about freedom. Not the freedom to speak.

Who cares? I still have utter faith in the high court and Supreme court of India.

My family is by my side and I am still fighting the case. The lawyer said in the worst case for punishment is about 2-3 yrs of jail. I am not sharing my name because my lawyer told me not to. Not because I’m scared to. I will share my name when the case is over. Maybe I will write a book about my views with my name on the top of it. I swear, I will not stop writing about anything ever. Nobody cared when I wrote long posts about “superstitions” , “moral policing” , “reservations in India”, “caste system of India” , “history of dalits”, etc. Nobody noticed when I wrote good quotes and stories on Facebook taken from every religious book that I have read, from Bhagavad Gita to the Quran and the Bible.

Why is it that our people always take criticism negatively? Can’t you people just accept the truth based on facts and research and then make changes in your religious books? and take the criticism positively? Why is it so hard for the Muslims especially, to make changes in their intolerant culture?

See Hindus, Christians and Buddhists…they have accepted so many changes. Why don’t you?

I am not a Hindu but I cannot support the fact that Hinduism is insulted for two hours in a movie while cartoons along with a post about Muhammad on Facebook is considered as a crime. Am I living in an Islamic country or what?

Your views about Buddhism are welcome. If you find anything wrong in my religion according to scientific or logical reasoning…please let me know. I don’t want anybody to keep quiet just because I don’t agree to it.

I think everybody should have their own views. Just stop killing mine.

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