The Freethought Party of India (FPI) in collaboration with the social reform organization AMOFOI, held the 14th death anniversary of AMOFOI chief patron Sarat Chandra Das here and celebrated the occasion as “Ethical Humanist Day” with party vice-president Harish Chandra Kar in the chair.

“The need of the hour is to give utmost importance to ethical humanism in order to effectively solve the chronic problems of religious fundamentalism and senseless patronization  of blind beliefs by wasting, in the process, huge amounts of State money for renovation of temples, churches, mosques and Gurudwars,” observed FPI general secretary BRamchandra CST Voltaire while paying his tribute to  Das who in his inimitable way did a great deal of ethical humanistic activities in his entire life time as a school teacher in Ahiyas High School, Jajpur and as a Panchayat Extension Officer of Government of Odisha. Das indeed stood for good deeds, not for any creed. He helped AMOFOI in many ways for the conduct of casteless, dowry-less, priest-less love marriages, told Voltaire.

Even though he was born and brought up in a caste-ridden village Naupada, Sujanpur, Jajpur, he never ever practiced untouchability and therefore he founded the Naupada UP School for the spread of civilizational values in his village, he added comparing the ethical humanistic values of late Das with those of Felix  Adler (1851-1933), the American founder of “Society for Ethical Culture”.

Among others, lawyer Debadarshi Nayak, Rourkela, vice president of AMOFOI  Babaji Kumar, founder Swapna Bijayini, Gunu Arundhati, daughter of late Das, treasurer of FPI Roji Anupama and Bijay Kumar, one of the key functionaries of AMOFOI spoke.

Two love marriages were held on the occasion.