PUNE: After the murder of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS) Founder and Working President Dr Narendra Dabholkar, an Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Act was enacted in Maharashtra but only 10 fake godmen have been punished 10 years after it came into force. In the state, 1,200 cases and 58 cases have been filed. Since the state government has not created a mechanism for effective implementation of the act, there are few cases in which the godmen have been punished.
Ten years have passed since the murder of Dr Dabholkar. The act, which did not come into being during Dabholkar’s lifetime, was approved by the state government on August 26, 2013. In 10 years, governments were formed by various parties but no government has shown willingness to implement the act. The Karnataka government took a cue from Maharashtra and made an act but it has not been effectively implemented there.
Maharashtra MANS office-bearers Dr Hamid Dabholkar and Milind Deshmukh said, “Cases of human sacrifice, nude worship, money rain, secret treasure, sexually exploiting women, black magic have been registered against many accused. Ten incidents of human sacrifice were stopped by the citizens. The state government should form strict rules for effective implementation of the law.”
Dabholkar said, “Fifty per cent complaints have been lodged by the common man and this proves that this movement is being led by people. However, sufficient awareness about this act has not been created in the people. When there is an important provision of a vigilance officer, no training has been provided to police officials. Since the act has been formed after a lot of discussions and churning in the society, the state government should take the lead in its implementation.” He said a rally would be organised in the state to create awareness about the act.
Dabholkar said, “A misinformation campaign had been launched that the act is against Hindus but the action has proved this wrong. In the last 10 years, action has been taken against fake godmen of all religions. Misinformation and lies were spread that the act will force people to stop performing Satyanarayan Pooja and taking part in the Ashadhi Wari. Since people know that the act is against superstition, the number of people approaching us has increased by 10 per cent.”
In the last 10 years, 58 cases have been registered under the act. “All the cases are sub-judice. If any person is exploiting or cheating by spreading superstition, citizens should lodge complaints with the police,” said DCP Amol Zende.
Cases registered in Pune in last 10 years
Year-Cases
2013-1
2014-3
2015-8
2016-13
2017-3
2018-3
2019-7
2020-2
2021-6
2022-9
2023-3
