ARE WE EVEN READY TO TALK ABOUT THESE SUPERSTITIONS AT ALL?

Legislations are not exclusive answers to prevailing social injustice, but in the last few years, public discourse-driven interventions in legislation have demonstrated several positive changes, for example in the case of the Lokpal Bill, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013 and the repeal of Article 66A of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008. These and other cases  have shown that public opinion, if consolidated and sustained, can create interventions in the state machinery and change laws which curb individual rights.

Not too long ago, in April this year,Hindustan Times reported the discovery of “headless torsos of two Dalit labourers – Nanjaiah (60) and Krishnaiah (47)” at a banana plantation off National Highway 209. Attempts to find out whether the perpetrators responsible for the death of Nanjaiah and Krishnaiah have been identified do not yield ready or easy information.  But the same report did mention that while the news of the beheading didn’t garner much attention in the newspapers, Sanghasena, the district President of the Samata Sainik Dal that had been leading the team of investigators was of the opinion that the beheading were clear cases of witchcraft.

News items such as this, which are examples of the continuing, rampant obscurantism concerning superstition and related practices, are often relegated to the inner pages of newspapers in some small, obscure corner. But they call for an urgent exploration of the status of anti-superstition legislations across India.

Public opinion and legislation

However, demands for legislation to protect people from obscurantist exploits have not generated much public engagement, nor has the state taken any effective steps to curb the occult practitioners from claiming anymore innocent lives. The status of the superstition bills in India bear this fact out.

Comparative analysis of the anti-superstition bills in India

There are existing national laws such as the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 of the Parliament of India which prohibits people from advertising drugs and remedies that claim to have magical properties and considers advertising products claiming to do so as a cognizable offence. State level legislations are also present in Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh to prohibit witch-hunting. In Karnataka, there are acts such as the Karnataka Devadasis (Prohibition of Dedication) Act, 1982 and the Karnataka Koragas (Prohibition of Ajalu Practice Act, 2000).

Maharashtra, however, is the first state to have passed a comprehensive legislation to protect people from being exploited in the name of superstition. Doctor and rationalist Narendra Dabholkar who founded the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS) in 1989, engaged in a decade long struggle challenging several superstitious practices, black magic and exorcism.

Originally drafted in 2003 by Dabholkar in association with MANS, the bill was not passed until 2013. It was only after Dabholkar’s murder on 20 August 2013 that the government succumbed to sustained pressure from MANS and other civil society organisations and subsequently promulgated the Maharashtra Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Ordinance.

The bill witnessed severe criticism from the Hindu Nationalist parties, such as the Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party, on grounds of being anti-Hindu. Extremist organisations such as the Hindu Jagran Samiti, Abhinav Bharat and Sanatan Sanstha also vehemently opposed the bill and were explicitly abusive towards Dabholkar.

While many of the aspects of the bill were amended by the Social Welfare Ministry of the Maharashtra Government before it was actually passed, it still remains an important event as it allowed the renewal of discussion on the adoption of a universal anti-superstition bill or anti-superstition bills in various states.

Following the lead of Maharashtra, Karnataka also proposed a bill in 2013 – the Karnataka Prevention of Superstitious Practices Bill, 2013. The Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore was entrusted with the responsibility of drafting the Bill and it had initiated discussions among academics on the bill before submitting it to the government.

The Bill seeks to provide punishment for any person who promotes, propagates or performs any superstitious practice, entailing imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year but may extend to five years. It also includes provisions for a fine which shall not be less than 10,000 rupees but which may extend to 50,000 rupees. Additionally, the bill includes a provision for death penalty or life imprisonment for performing human sacrifice.

However, even after repeated suggestions, the bill has not been adopted. As in Maharashtra, in Karnataka too, Hindu groups have criticised and opposed the bill. In spite of official attempts from several quarters, such as the request by the current chief minister of Karnataka, K Siddaramaiah to pass the bill in the assembly or the call of the Vice president, Mr. Hamid Ansari to make the anti-superstition law a national law, the engagement from people representing different layers of the society has been minimal.

If passed, Karnataka will become only the second state, after Maharashtra, to bring in a law criminalising such superstitious practices. In Assam, chief minister Tarun Gogoi has called for the drafting of a law that prohibits exploitative practices, but no further development has been reported since. Kokrajhar and Jorhat districts still report high number of deaths due to superstitious practices.