What the anti-superstition bill is about

“That the law doesn’t change the society is a half truth”, said the late Dr. Narendra Dabholkar in one of his articles while defending the need of an ‘anti black magic bill’. He further added, “The society doesn’t change without a law is the complete truth. Social awareness is empowered when complemented with stringent laws. Proper implementation of such a law will definitely help bring about change”. 

A day after he was brutally murdered in Pune, the Maharashtra  government decided to issue an ordinance to empower the government to deal with superstitions and black magic that harm our society.

Dr. Dabholkar worked on this bill for almost 18 years along with many of his colleagues, including well known activist Shyam Manav. The draft was written and re-written many times to accommodate the suggestions and objections of various political and social institutions like the warkaris (warkaris are those devotees who worship Lord Vithoba. They walk to Pandharpur during the Hindu month of Ashadh. This pilgrimage done on foot is known as the wari) of Maharashtra. (Shyam Manav insists that though the draft has been re-written many times it has not been diluted one bit, only re-phrased).

The Congress and NCP accepted the draft, but were never very keen on the law since privately many had objected to certain clauses of the bill. The BJP and the Shiv Sena naturally opposed the bill because they felt it directly affected the beliefs of Hindus, who are their vote banks. Many extremist organisations like the Hindu Jagran Samiti, Abhinav Bharat and Sanatan Sanstha vehemently objected to any such law being passed and were abusive of Dr. Dabholkar in the strongest of language.

That these organisations deliberately misled the common person is easy to understand if one takes a little effort and goes through the clauses in this bill. There is not a single word against any religion, it doesn’t even mention any religion and personal faith is not even touched, leave alone curbing it. But Hindu fundamentalists opposed the bill as if it is apocalyptic. However, the clauses seem to be mere common sense.

So what exactly is this bill? The government says, this bill is to bring social awakening and awareness in the society and to create a healthy and safe social environment with a view to protecting common people against the evil practices and customs thriving on ignorance and blind beliefs and to combat and eradicate human sacrifice and other such evil and gruesome practices born out of beliefs propagated in the name of so called supernatural or magical powers of evil spirits like black magic by quacks and conmen with the motive of exploiting people.

It has 12 clauses which are punishable offences as per the law.

1. Under the pretext of removing a bhoot (ghost) from a person’s body, tying that person with a rope or a chain or a stick, assaulting them or asking them to drink water soaked in footwear, hang the person to the roof, pluck their hair, ask them to touch heated objects or force them to conduct sexual act in the open or force the intake of urine or stool.

2. Make financial profits by displaying so called miracles. Cheat and terrorise people with the aid of such miracles. (This means that miracle per se is not an offence. Also, talking about the miracles from the past, telling stories of Dnyaneshwar and how he made a buffalo recite Vedas is perfectly alright). The stress is on making money.

3. With the objective of attaining supernatural powers, do something or ask others to do something that might cause injuries or risk to life.

4. At the pretext of searching for hidden treasure or water source do something that is inhuman, gruesome and ask or encourage or suggest for human life as prashad. (Some argued that existing laws were strong enough to deal with such murders. But murdering is different from encouraging. And the encouragement is not for killing of a particular person which amounts to culpable homicide but any human life which otherwise cannot be a punishable offence under the law).

5. Create a feeling of fear by giving an impression of having supernatural power or pretending that someone else has such powers or threaten that evil will befall if he/she doesn’t obey the person having such powers.

6. Creating suspicion about a person claiming that he/she performs black magic through which he/she carries evil practices and makes life difficult for that person or declare that a person is a Satan or form of Satan.

Objectionable, anything? Or against any religion? Or against personal faith? Can one find any such flaw? Further, the bill says:

7. Beating up a person or have a procession of a naked woman saying she is a witch or restrict her routine.

8. Threatening to invite a ghost and creating fear in the mind and misguiding people by claiming to cure a disease with the help of mantras by preventing medical aid.

9. Preventing medical aid and instead claiming to cure a person bitten by snake, dog or scorpion by chanting mantras or by tying threads or similar things.

10.  Claiming to change the sex of the foetus in the womb by inserting fingers.

11.  Giving an impression that one has supernatural powers or that the devotee was his/ her wife/ husband or paramour in past birth thereby indulging in sexual activity with such person. Having sex with a woman yearning for a child claiming to make her pregnant with supernatural powers.

12.  Claiming that a differently abled person has supernatural power and using him or her for business purpose.

There are a few questions one needs to ask the so called protectors of the religion among not just Hindus but other religions too.

1. Isn’t this bill against all evil practices prevailing in all religions?

2. Isn’t it what all the social reformists including our great saints like Tukaram, Dnyaneshwar, Eknath have been preaching since yore?

3. Does it even hint at curbing personal faith? Or personal beliefs? Or for that matter even personal superstitions?

Why then the objections?

I would like to narrate a small experience here. A dear friend of mine is very religious in nature. A few days back his atheist colleague underwent a surgery during which time he meditated chanting some mantras at his home for her. This bill is not going to prevent him from this act. When he read the clauses of the bill he said to me, “Why on earth are people against this bill? Only those with vested interests can say this is against Hindus.”

You can wake up a sleeping person. But what does one do if the person is pretending to sleep?

Meena Karnik is a freelance journalist, publisher, editor of Diwali number Akshar and a film critic. She has translated the award-winning book Bitter Chocolate, and is author of Gautam—biography of ace glamour photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha.