By Albert Thyrniang
The hacking of three persons to death at Smit village near Shillong on 16th August for allegedly practicing witchcraft, however, involves no dilemma. Those who were killed by the mob reportedly dumped a person in a river with severe injuries. The person is recovering in a city hospital. Then the matter is clear. The family members of the witchcraft’s victim should have filed an FIR, get the culprits arrested and demanded that the law take its course. The accused should have been charged with a case of attempted murder and other provisions of the law. Where is the need to brutally murder them?
Witchcraft practice is a universal phenomenon and has been in existence since time immemorial. In Europe witchery can be traced back to antiquity, was prevalent in the Middle Ages and it continued till the 18th century and even to the present day. Perhaps, the biggest blot in Europe’s history is the persecutions and executions of pronounced ‘witches’. Kings condemned ‘witches’ at will, tortured and burnt them at the stake. The church too was guilty of persecuting those who went contrary to the then scriptural and ecclesiastical teaching. What we have today is remnants of witch-related movies, stories and novels. Some are classical blockbusters and best sellers.
In India practice of witchcraft and its ramification is a menace. In Jharkhand, on 14th June this year villagers beat a 70 year old woman and her 42 year old daughter-in-law to death accusing the pair of practicing witchcraft and blaming them for the deaths of several children from illnesses. This and many other similar incidents reinforce the fact that witchcraft still persists particularly in impoverished and tribal dominated areas of the country leading to crimes of revenge against the witchcraft accused.
In Maharashtra, rationalist Narendra Dabholkar had to face his assailants’ bullets for his anti-witchcraft campaign. The man who travelled extensively promoting scientific thought and rationalism angered Hindu hardliners. He had to pay the ultimate price for a long campaign for an anti-superstition law to eradicate blind faith. After the murder of the renowned rationalist the government of Maharashtra pushed through the Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Law that the eminent social activist had championed for years.
In Meghalaya too we need an anti-superstition law. Among other provisions, the Maharashtra Anti-Superstition Law, makes self-styled godmen who prey on people by rituals, charms and magical cures, punishable. In our state too the law should seek to curb witchcraft practice. However, this will be a herculean task as witchcraft practitioners are unknown and unidentified. Even if there are, they practice it secretly. In most cases they are merely branded and labeled and suspected. You cannot provide scientific proof that will stand in the court of law.
Personally, I do not believe that there are ‘U thlen’ worshippers. Neither do I believe in the existence of ‘U thlen’. Since a child I have heard tales about the feared deity but no one could say exactly how it looks like. We are made to understand that the creature resembles a serpent that changes his size at will. It is true that ‘U thlen’ is ingrained in our cultures’ folktales. It tells of a woman, who after a feast left a piece of the slain serpent’s meat in a vessel for her missing son. To her utter surprise the piece of meat turned serpent again. Promising to bless the woman, the serpent begged her to keep him alive.
U thlen and other folk tales, folklores and legends cannot be taken literally. Our fore-parents wanted to convey a message and cleverly they did it in the form of stories so that the message is passed on from generation to the next. It’s a pity that we now know only the stories and forgot the message. It is to our advantage that the folktale, folklore, legends and mythologies are demythologized. The message of the story of ‘U thlen’ is not difficult to derive. It is greed for earthly wealth. To acquire that wealth, people, at times adopt evil means to the extent of killing fellow human beings. ‘U thlen’ should be demythologized as the ‘god of greed’ and evil goes with it. ‘U thlen’ is an evil not a devil.
If the ‘god’ is only legendary, its worshippers are imaginary or at the most anonymous. Therefore, an anti-superstition law in our state should focus squarely on people who take law into their own hands. Time and again we have seen street justice meted out to people on mere suspicion of being sorcerers. We had individuals and mobs assaulting people suspected to practice witchcraft, vandalizing and setting ablaze their homes and property, forcing them to consume human and dog excreta. Now the brutal and barbaric, cruel and cold blooded murders! What heinous crimes next? What will raise its ugly head next?
Our society is plagued with three afflictions: (1) Disrespect for human dignity (rights) and human life. The humiliating, revolting and nauseating forced ‘feeding’ of human and dog excreta to the person accused of witchcraft shows that we can reduce the human being to the status of an animal. The merciless hacking of the three persons indicates that human life is valueless and not priceless. Both the Khasi Religion and Christianity teach that the Supreme Creator gives life and only He alone can take it back. Clearly, the fact that human dignity and human life cannot be compromised and violated has not been absorbed by our society.
(2) We are governed by superstitions. Scientific temper has made little inroad into the masses. The shameful Smit incident establishes that education has not gone beyond literacy. Superstitions are deep-rooted. We still go by in hearsay. That illnesses and even misfortunes are naturally caused have not penetrated our consciousness. Many still believe them to be the handiworks of the devil. We don’t buy the argument that science has explained many of the ailments and has ready remedies for them. We still attribute supernatural causes to our maladies and the corresponding appeasement of the gods for their cures.
(3) The concept of the rule of law has not made much headway. The chilling and scary incident at Smit proves we believe in kangaroo courts – mob and instant justice without trial. This is contrary and contradictory to civilized delivery of justice. Even criminals are to be given a fair hearing. Even convicts are to be executed only by the state soberly. This thought process has not come naturally. We are still with the medieval and pre-medieval mentality.
In the 21st century and with more than 170s years of Christian education behind, elimination and eradication of the above afflictions is still a far cry in our Khasi Society. Demonstrate that we are human, civilized, educated and even spiritual. By any parameter lynching is wrong.Period!