BENGALURU: The alleged superstition-driven murder of a 10-year-old girl at Magadi near here recently has revived the demand for a law to check the social evil. But rationalists feel that legislation alone cannot tackle the issue.
Proponents of the much-debated Anti-Superstition Bill say incidents like these should be leveraged to create awareness which is a practical means to deal with age-old blind beliefs which have continued into the 21st century.
Babu Mathew, a legal expert and one of the key proponents of the Bill, told Express that while such a legislation is essential, there must be hard work at the grassroots level, especially in regions where superstitious practices are prevalent, to ensure social transformation.
Citing the example of Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan’s campaign against triple talaq, he opined that such a movement is necessary to ensure that the Anti-Superstition Bill is enacted.
Federation of Rationalists Associations of India president Narendra Nayak concurred with Mathew. He said people can be made to shun evil practices only by means of education.
“Though we have the technologies and tools of the 21st century, our mindset is still in the 16th century,” he said, adding that superstitions are not restricted to lower socio-economic class alone. “While superstitions in rural areas are crude, they appear sophisticated when practised by people in cities,” he said.
A legislation will not only ensure some safety for the future victims of superstitious practices, it will also be valuable in creating awareness, he added.
Law Minister T B Jayachandra told Express, “We have consulted the daughter of Pune rationalist Narendra Dhabolkar and taken her suggestions on superstition and black magic. A draft bill is ready and has been sent to former Supreme Court judge Justice Shivaraj Patil for vetting.” Jayachandra added that the draft bill will be put up in public domain in another 2-3 days. “We will invite public suggestions/objections and give them about 10-15 days time. We don’t want the BJP to make a fuss about it,” he said.