The nation needs a stringent piece of legislation as superstitious beliefs persists despite astounding progress in science and technology, said members of Andhra Pradesh Rationalists’ Association (APRA) on Sunday (August 20) .
Paying tributes to slain Narendra Dabholkar on his death anniversary here on Sunday, APRA state president Narne Venkata Subbaiah opined that present legal provisions were insufficient to deal with the brutal superstitious practices perpetrated by fake godmen to cheat gullible people.
A central law on the lines of the one enacted in Mahrashtra, following a protracted struggle by Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti led by the late rationalist, was urgently needed to curb fraudulent and exploitative practices in the garb of religion, he said.
Occult practices and black magic should be dealt with an iron fist by enacting such a legislation also in the twin Telugu-speaking states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, he added.
Scientific temper should be promoted among students by rationalists by holding meetings periodically in schools and colleges, felt Poura Samajam district president G. Narasimha Rao. The life of slain social reformers Dabholkar, Govind Pansare, M.M. Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh should be included in school textbooks, added Communist Party of India leader P.V.R. Choudhary.
The rationalists welcomed the Allahabad High Court terming it as a curse for society that women were still being subjected to occult rituals to treat infertility. They also wanted the authorities to act sternly against those promising ‘miracle cure‘ for severe illnesses without any scientific basis and the celebrities backing such claims.
