Why making law on superstition and hypocrisy is necessary?

In India, only two states- Maharashtra and Karnataka have the law on prevention of superstition. If someone is convicted, a sentence of at least one year and the fine up to 5000 will be imposed. This bill includes practices like- black magic, magical tantrum, and astrological predictions. Under this bill, predictions will be considered as a crime based on superstitious practices such as sacrificing animal or human, adopting violent methods to cure a disease, performing black magic, hurting yourself, propagating superstitious beliefs and astrology.

These states believe that the idea of scientific thinking and understanding should be developed in its people. And such law will help in rectifying the non-legal intentions in the name of faith and belief. In Indian society, the prolonged existence of religious superstitions has gone deeper in its roots and penetrated inside. In such situations, the rest of the states should also come forward.

In fact, such type of law is needed to be in place at the national level too. After all, it is at most important to understand why and how much necessary it is to fight against the superstition. If this law is not enforced across the country then talks about the science of the 21st century will remain in the air and this termite of superstitious will eat the mental power of discrimination of the society. Because in the absence of awareness, the people consider the blind faith as only religion and take that as the duty of life. There is a lot of superstitious practices going on in the name of the tradition, and the alleged religious Dharam guru ‘Babas’ are promoting them.

Superstition is such a disease that causes us to lose so much in the past. We cannot predict how many years it will take in this recovery.  If we go back to history and wants to understand the reason for many losses of history, then the biggest reason we could found is always some or the other form of superstitions. Remember the history of Somnath Temple when the foreign invader Mahmud Ghajnavi reached Somnath temple to destroy and loot it. Then the priests of Somnath temple were rejoicing in the belief that Lord Somnath ji has enough power to ward off the army of Gajnavi. If they would have not believed in such superstition and had taken up the stones to throw on the army of Gajnavi, then the temple of Somnath would have been saved and so could be the honor of the Indian Dharadham.

The country had to undergo many odd circumstances due to superstition, hypocrisy, fake and illogical traditions. Even today the religious and social status of the country is not satisfactory. To address this issue, it is necessary to eliminate the superstitions and ignorance from the mind of Indian People otherwise the religious catastrophe will be many times larger than that of the last century.

Unfortunately, even in this era of information revolution, such struggle continues and in spite of all progress, hypocrisy continues, superstition continues and today the robbers are attacking with this new weapon in the new form. The so-called ‘babas’ are looting the wealth of people in lure of getting a job to them, and even getting good marks in the exam, for that Bengali baba tells the tricks.

Every day new superstitious practices are appearing. Today, these fraud godmen are also hunting women easily by claiming to know the gender of the infant lying in her womb and also changing it. In numerous cases, women and girls have also been sexually exploited by these superstitious crooks. In the name of religious rituals and divine power, people have been treated illegally, rebuked and startled.

If observed closely, the market of superstitions has been increased so much in today's society that the educated people seem to be equally in its grip as the uneducated people. With the fact that it is an attempt to thwart modern ideas and open thinking earned by human civilization after a long struggle, superstition continues. If the government make the laws on a national level to curb such practices, elements spreading superstition, and take action against the people who are promoting it, there is still which could be resolved even today. It is true that laws can only be useful for society only after implementation, but still, with hope that to 21st society to understand the difference between faith and superstition, the law will help! Regardless of how our past was, at least the future of the coming generations could be improved.

Vinay Arya (General Secretary) Arya Samaj