NOT AGAINST FAITH, AGAINST SUPERSTITION

After the killing of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, social and political activists have upped the ante for passing the 'Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman Evil Practices and Black Magic' bill.

Though the bill is waiting for a nod of the state legislature for over a decade, lack of political will has kept it pending.

The successive governments have dithered over certain clauses, one of which, for instance, says that religious rituals and rites that cause financial and physical harm to any person will be covered under the Act. The 'Warkaris' wanted the clause to be removed as they walk on foot from different parts of the state to Pandharpur every year. According to them, the penance inflicts physical harm and they fear that it may fall within purview of the bill.

Likewise, there are some who subscribe to the view that there is a divine energy that pervades this universe. In the preamble of the bill, divine energy has been described as 'so-called' and it is dubbed as a superstition. Thus in some quarters this is seen as denying faith in divine energy, which is anti-religion. There are others who invoke the names of saints of yesteryears to instil faith in miracles. This section contends that there is a mention of miracles in almost all the Hindu religious books (scriptures). Can, therefore, all these claims of miracles be considered untrue/false under the proposed law? Even as the Maharashtra government dithered over the bill, godmen and tantriks were up in arms over its stated intent. Some of them felt the Bill would deal a body blow to a 6,500-year-old Vedic tradition. After the Tuesday killing, however, rationalists and right-minded citizens are demanding in one voice that an Ordinance be issued on the proposed legislation, outlawing all propagation of superstition and black magic. This, it is felt, would be a fitting tribute to Dabholkar. The bill is pending even though it has been approved five times by the state cabinet. The novelty of the proposed legislation is that it does not get into semantics over definition of faith and blind faith.