Dinkoism
Indian religion and social movement
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dinkoism (/ˈdɪnkɔɪzəm/), the Dinkoist religion, or Dinkamatham[3][2] is a parody religion and social movement that emerged and evolved on social networks[4] organized by independent welfare groups in the Indian state of Kerala. Adherents describe Dinkoism as a genuine religion.
History
According to a report in India Today, Dinkoism[4] was established in 2008 in Kerala by a group of rationalists with the intention of ridiculing "the absurdity of blind religious faith".[5] The community planned to become politically active.[6] A report in The New Indian Express said Dinkoism is gaining members through Facebook.[4] The BBC described Dinkoism in 2016 as an atheist movement with significant growth on social media.[7]
Description
The religion purports to worship Dinkan, a comic book character.[8] Dinkoists celebrate the character—a superhero mouse that appeared in 1983 in defunct Malayalam-language children's magazine Balamangalam—as their God for the purpose of exposing superstitions and fallacies and practices of traditional religions.[7][9]
Events and protests
The concept of Dinkoism has spread through social media but the movement has also organised protest events. On January 30, 2016, a group of Dinkoists, under the banner of Mooshikasena (Rat Army) held a mock protest in front of Dhe Puttu restaurant owned by popular actor Dileep alleging his upcoming film Professor Dinkan hurt their religious sentiments, mocking similar protests happening worldwide.[10][11]
Earlier Dinkoism was in news when an expatriate Dinkoist living in California obtained a license plate with the inscription DINKAN for his car, out of his devotion for Dinkan.[12] In 2016, J. Devika wrote an article about the concept of Dinkoism and the logic of the market.[13]
Conferences
Dinkoists of Kozhikode organised a conference at the Sports Council Hall, Mananchira on March 20, 2016. They organised a variety of entertainments with a theme of tapioca. E. A. Jabbar, a prominent rationalist, endorsed Dinkoism.[8]
In April 2016, 25,000 Dinkoists were expected to gather for a convention called a "Dinkamatha Maha Sammelanam" to "present their rights as a minority community".[6] Dinkoists have received threatening messages as well as opposition from believers of other religions.[4]
