No woman is a witch or a sorceress
Raipur: Dr. Dinesh Mishra, President of Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, an organization working for the eradication of superstition, hypocrisy and social evils, said that on the night of Hareli Amavasya, the symbol of greenery, the committee visited villages at night and contacted the villagers to remove the fear of sorcery and ghosts from the minds of the villagers. The committee team visited Patharidih, Kanhera, Kandarka, Pirda, Bhalesar, Hardi, Urla villages from 11 pm to 3 am. They also visited river banks, ponds and cremation grounds at night. At some places, villagers admitted to believing in sorcery and exorcism. But no one gave any information about any unbelievable miraculous incident. Dr. Dinesh Mishra, Dr. Shailesh Jadhav, Gyanchand Vishwakarma, Dr. Praveen Devangan, Priyanshu Pandey, who were part of the committee team, discussed with many villagers.
Dr. Dinesh Mishra said that there are many different beliefs about Hariyali Amavasya (Hareli) in rural areas. At many places, it is also associated with witchcraft. At some places, it is also believed that magical powers are attained by special sadhana on this day and night. However, all these are just assumptions. There is no existence of witchcraft and there is no female witch. Still, many incidents of women harassment come to light due to superstition. Such incidents have come to light from Durg, Raigarh, Bastar, Surguja in the last week itself. Earlier, when there was no information about diseases and natural disasters, it was believed that the diseases that affect humans and animals are caused by witchcraft. People fall sick due to evil eye and to protect them, the village and house should be tied with tantra-mantra and in such cases, women are often accused of practicing witchcraft. Actually, due to rain in the month of Sawan, the temperature of the atmosphere remains irregular, due to humidity, moisture, disease-causing bacteria, fungus viruses increase a lot after getting favorable environment, on the other hand, due to dirt, polluted drinking water, contamination of food items, increase in flies and mosquitoes, diseases start increasing suddenly, due to which the number of patients of dysentery, jaundice, viral fever, dengue, malaria increases in villages and if attention is not given on time, the entire settlement becomes a victim of seasonal infectious diseases. The same is the case with crops and animals, to protect from these seasonal diseases, there is a need to pay attention to basic things like clean drinking water, no contamination of food items, no dirt, no increase in flies and mosquitoes. By taking health related precautions, people can stay safe from animal corona and other infections and diseases. For this, there is no need to bind the house or the village with any kind of tantra-mantra. Cleanliness is more important, after this, if a person is infected with these seasonal diseases, then immediately take him to the doctor, even in case of snake bite or poisonous insect bite, take him to the doctor. To avoid diseases, if people pay attention to things like cleanliness, drinking filtered and boiled water, not using polluted food and not allowing dirt to accumulate and remain alert towards health, then there will be no need to bind with tantra-mantra. Diseases will not come near on their own, flies and mosquitoes are more dangerous than any so-called tantra-mantra.
Dr. Mishra said that an appeal is made to the villagers that they should not let superstition spread in their village and take care that no woman in the village is harassed on the charge of witchcraft. No woman is a witch. The villagers assured that no woman in their village will ever be harassed in the name of Tonhhi and will ensure that no such incident takes place in the vicinity. Some villagers said that it is believed that on the night of Hareli, Tonhhi is seen burning. But they also told that all this is hearsay. The committee did not find any eyewitness who has seen any such miraculous incident. But people remain terrified at night and are afraid to step out of their houses. The villagers do discuss the existence of Tonhhi or its activities but are unable to tell whether anyone has actually seen it doing anything on the night of Hareli.
Dr. Mishra said that rumours and confusion spread on the basis of hearsay, in reality no such miracle has happened nor is it possible. Therefore, no villager should fall prey to the so-called witchcraft or Tonhhi confusion and fear.
Dr. Dinesh Mishra
Eye Specialist
President, Superstition Eradication Committee
Nayapara, Phool Chowk, Raipur (Chhattisgarh)
