The Freedom From Religion Foundation decries the alarming detention in Poland of humanist activist Sanal Edamaruku.
Sanal is a well-known freethought activist from India who had been given permanent residence in Finland. He had traveled to Poland to speak at a human rights conference. His organization, Rationalists International, reports that his arrest was based on an Interpol Red Notice that the Indian authorities initiated. The Hindu nationalist Indian government is seeking his extradition, giving rise to fears that he will be mistreated if he is returned to India. A previous case was already under active appeal in Finland, and using an Interpol Red Notice to override Finland’s courts sets a dangerous precedent, state his supporters.
“This case is not only about Sanal Edamaruku and his rights,” says FFRF Co-President Dan Barker, who knows Sanal personally. “It’s also a threat generally to the rights of freethinkers, dissidents and rationalists around the world.”
After Sanal exposed the true cause behind a “weeping” crucifix in Mumbai in 2012 — proving that the phenomenon was due to a leak from a nearby sewage pipe rather than divine miracle — he was charged with blasphemy under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code. The blasphemy charge resulted from a complaint by Catholic groups. Although Roman Catholics make up slightly more than 1 percent of the Indian population, that number still amounts to 20 million individuals. Following credible death threats, Sanal was forced to flee India.
A year or so after Sanal escaped, his friend and fellow campaigner Dr. Narendra Dabholkar invited him to return, promising to protect him if he returned to Mumbai. “Four days later, I heard about his assassination,” Sanal has written. Dabholkar, an anti-superstition crusader, was shot dead in 2013. Other prominent Indian humanists who have been assassinated include M.M. Kalburgi, who spoke out against idol worship and was shot in 2015; historian and activist Govind Pansare, who was also killed in 2015, and Gauri Lankesh, an outspoken left-wing journalist critical of Hindu extremism murdered in 2017.
Sanal Edamaruku is an internationally respected rationalist, publisher, public intellectual and human rights defender who has written more than 25 books, delivered talks in more than 60 countries and worked to inspire others to question blind faith and superstition. He has championed science, secular values and freedom of expression.
Prior to fleeing India, Sanal graduated from Jawaharlal Nehru University and became president of the International Center for Kathakali in New Delhi, directing plays based on nontraditional themes and introducing female roles. He also worked as a columnist and national political analyst. After leaving India, he worked in Finland as a resource person and lecturer, then founded the Rationalist International organization.
Sanal had traveled on March 25 from Helsinki to London, then on March 28, flew from London to Modlin Airport in Poland, where he was taken into custody. On March 30, a Warsaw court ordered him held on remand for a week. On April 2, his detention was prolonged until May 7. This came at the request of Indian authorities, who invoked Article 9 of the India-Poland extradition treaty.
Since Narendra Modi became prime minister of India in 2014 as the head of the hard-right Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Hindu nationalism in the constitutionally secular nation of India has been on the rise, endangering the rights of various groups, including nonbelievers.
Sanal is a gentle, thoughtful and generous freethinker. FFRF Co-Presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor spoke with him on Freethought Radio in 2019. Sanal hosted Dan and Annie Laurie at last year’s Spring of Reason and Exuberance conference, extending generous hospitality. His 2025 Spring of Reason and Exuberance conference has been canceled due to his arrest.
FFRF calls on the Polish government to release Sanal and asks other humanist and freethought groups worldwide to join the public outcry.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters of nontheism. With 42,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights across the globe. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
