As an ideal the movement is excellent provided the ways and means adopted to achieve the desired results are peaceful. Buddha, Mahavira, Shankara, Ramanuja, Nanak, Kabir, Mahatma Gandhi and a host of others were rationalists and reformers in their own way. They always adopted peaceful methods.

When free thinking degenerates to licensed thinking rationalism degenerates into sententious individualism or groupism. This is the starting point of intolerance and fanaticism. Fanatic rationalism is as dangerous as fanatic religiosity. In ordinary hands fanatic rationalism ends in violence, bloodshed and chaos.

Ganesha fell a victim to this sort of fanatic rationalism. In the past we had in India Charvakas and Lokayatas. They were more materialistic than rationalistic in their outlook. They left Ganesha unmolested. The present Century saw the reactions of the sins of the past committed by man against man in the name of God and his religion. Quite a number of free thinkers came forward to reform religion and society in the light of their own understanding, Ganesha being a Hindu Deity with precedence over all other Deities attracted the attention of these zealous men. They have seen contemporary politicians burning the effigies of their opponents to give vent to their feelings. A similar strategy was adopted and they decided to inaugurate a campaign by smashing this funny God out of existence and demonstrate to the masses the Gods' impotency in averting this disaster. In pursuance of this decision, these enthusiastic men procured a huge idol of Ganesha with profane make ups and took it in procession to a public place where the members of the public could see for themselves the God's helplessness against his own fate. The planning was done so precisely that at the appointed time Ganesha was smashed to pieces within the sight of his helpless devotees.