The Anti-superstition bill never rang a bell until the brutal murder in the early hours of the 20th of August, when activist Narendra Dabholkar was shot dead by unidentified men while he was on out on his morning walk. Ever since, it is all everybody has been caught discussing fervently within closed circles, protest marches and general forums. What is this bill and why was Narendra Dabholkar killed?
Mr. Dabholkar, after 12 years of medical practice, decided that the real illness was in the minds of the people whose physical ailment won?t go with prescribed medication alone. Over a period of time, in 1989, he founded a concrete ground to fight from and called it the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti. All these years since, him and his loyal and fearless army has been fighting a tough battle. These brought threats to his life. Known to be scientific in thought and logical in argument, he mostly won over people through his kind and patient demeanour.
The struggle hasn?t been easy either. He has been openly opposed and criticised by leading political parties and their religious wings (no pun intended). In 1995, he framed the Anti-Jaadu Tona Bill and though the state cabinet passed it then, it wouldn?t be brought up in any of the state assembly sessions for another 18 years. In 2005, the bill had been approved by the cabinet but had lapsed before it could be brought up in the assembly. The Bill was introduced thrice in the Assembly and underwent 29 amendments but still not passed. It ran into opposition from the Shiv Sena-BJP and organisations that feared the Bill would target only the Hindu faith and curb religious freedom.
Many labelled him as being Anti-Hindu. Some even thought his ideas reflected atheist roots. He used his reasoning shield and said “In the whole of the bill, there’s not a single word about God or religion. Nothing like that. The Indian constitution allows freedom of worship and nobody can take that away, this is about fraudulent and exploitative practices.”? The Bill had proposed that those indulging in black magic or cashing in on people?s superstitions be jailed for up to seven years. It also sought to ban a range of practices including animal sacrifice and magical remedies to cure ailments.
Some of the practices listed in the proposed draft of the bill include:
- To punish and to beat mentally ill patients in the belief that they are possessed by evil spirits.
- To perform “Gopal Santan Vidhi” to beget a male offspring
- To oppose scientific medical treatment and to coerce to adopt Aghori treatment
This makes me ask that if he was Anti-Hindu and against these dangerously primitive and useless traditions, then the only flow of inference to me is that the Hindu ?dharma? is defined by these very rituals and hence, is also dangerously primitive. Or that is at least the impression the opponents seem to be creating.
The Opposition is now blaming the government. ?The government failed to introduce the Bill in the last session. This shows it had no will to get it passed,? said State BJP president Devendra Fadnavis. But why feign surprise, for this was an expected reaction from the people of a nation that devoutly trash each other on political, religious and class based grounds.
Strangely and rather failingly, the bill was cleared the very next day of the murder of its staunchest propagator to be passed by the Parliament now. This may seem like a sudden victory, but in reality it only poses imminent threat of being a knee jerk reaction. Such decisions, more often than not, lead to unimaginable chaos. Alas, we can only hope and pray otherwise.
The one thing that makes me shudder is the fact that one man?s crusade against the long held clasp of superstition that led to his death only proves how big, unprecedented and dangerous the phenomenon is. Whoever killed Narendra Dabholkar clearly would have known it wasn?t going to put an end to the fight to which he gave his all. It is the hatred for rationality and perverse attachment to illogical, brutal and barbaric traditions that led to this unfortunate and undeserving pause. He didn?t have to be a martyr. No, he shouldn?t have had to be one.
Nikita Pandey:?A?student of the humanities, having obtained a masters degree in Sociology from Mumbai University. Because of her love for the performing arts, she is currently learning Odissi, an Indian classical dance form.
Other activities include writing, watching movies, cooking, travelling and staying in loop of all current affairs.
