In a country like India, where different religions coexist simultaneously, the possibility of spreading hate and riots is no small matter. In this twenty-first century with modern technology, some curses persistently afflict this generation due to the malevolence lurking within people’s minds.
One of the most malevolent curses prevalent in people’s minds today is superstition. Superstition is a belief or custom viewed as irrational or supernatural by those who do not follow it. It is often associated with notions of fate, magic, supernatural forces, or a fear of the unknown. This term is frequently used to describe beliefs and practices related to luck, charms, astrology, fortune-telling, spirits, and various paranormal entities.
Additionally, the term “superstition” can be applied to religions that are not widely practiced in a society, irrespective of whether the dominant religion within that society is considered to contain superstitions. It is also employed in a broader sense by those who are against all forms of religion. In simple words, your misfortune may result from your non-belief in the cults as stated by them.
A few years ago, according to a self-proclaimed baba, our planet would be destroyed in 2017. The reality is that you are still alive; no miracle happened. These superstitions were limited to yagyas or rituals only, but a shocking incident occurred a few days ago that exceeded all limits of blind faith. A seven-year-old boy, diagnosed with blood cancer, tragically passed away after reportedly being immersed in the Ganga river by his parents in an attempt to cure him of the illness. The incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon at Har ki Pauri in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand.
Following medical advice that their child had little chance of overcoming cancer, the boy’s parents, accompanied by other family members, brought him to the Ganga River’s banks. A distressing video of the event circulated on social media, showing a woman in a red saree, believed to be the boy’s aunt, repeatedly immersing the child in the river for approximately five minutes.
Despite the initial screams of the child, the cries ceased shortly thereafter. The parents, driven by superstition, believed that subjecting their son to a Gangasnan (holy dip in the Ganga) would cure him of blood cancer, according to Haridwar Superintendent of Police Swatantra Kumar.
Can you believe that the parents of the kid actually did this? Just the poor mindset of them led to the death of their innocent child, who may not have even realized what he was about to witness and how this practice would help in his treatment. This is just one incident that has already shocked the world, but there is one more incident that happened due to the superstitious mindset of the people; The Burari deaths in 2018 involved an apparent mass suicide ritual of eleven members of the Chundawat family from Burari, Delhi, India. Ten individuals were discovered hanging, while the grandmother, the eldest member of the family, was strangled. The bodies were found on July 1, 2018, in the early morning.
Authorities concluded that the deaths were the result of a shared delusion or psychosis. On the morning of the incident, Gurcharan Singh, a neighbor who usually went on morning walks with one of the deceased, visited the Chundawat residence around 7:15 am. Observing Lalit Chundawat’s absence and the unopened family shops, which typically operated by 5 to 5:30 am, Singh entered the house and discovered the ten individuals, including Lalit Chundawat, hanging. He promptly alerted other neighbors, and the police were notified around 7:30 am. Notes recovered from the house, suggesting a possible ritual gone wrong, are among the pieces of evidence being examined by the police.
Among all the cases, one thing was common: the neglect of faith and blind following of superstitious rituals. It was literally a matter of faith versus superstitions, and this is what I doubt. There is no lack of resources for anyone in this digital age, and yet our generation is blind to decide what is ethically correct or wrong for them. I would say if you do not find anything ethically correct, then there is no point in practicing it, even if it is written in your holy textbooks. These practices lead to the death of the bhakt in you as well. Think rationally, act wisely. Jai Hind!