This article is written by Durgesh Nandini from D.E.S.Shri Navalmal Firodia Law College, Pune. In this article, she is talking about the concept of ancient witch-hunting and modern witch-hunting. She is also talking about how the concept of witch-hunting has changed in the present time and how famous politicians, people in power and industrialists are practising witch-hunting on powerless people and how they are using this concept as an excuse to escape from their liabilities.

Introduction

Do you remember, last year, on the evening of 14th June, famous Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found hanging in his house? In this case, AIIMS had declared that it was an incident of suicide. But his family had put serious allegations on Rhea Chakraborty that she was the girlfriend of Sushant Singh Rajput and because of her, he died. Everyone had declared her a witch through media and social media. People had confirmed that she was involved with his death and it was not a suicide but a planned murder by Rhea Chakraborty.

Even famous actress Rekha had also faced a witch-hunt when her businessman husband Mukesh committed suicide, his family and the whole media called her a witch. These two famous incidents show how witch-hunting is used as a spice in news in the Bollywood industry.

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But witch-hunting does not only exist in the Bollywood industry. It is used as a powerful tool in politics too. As the former president of the United States of America, Mr. Donald Trump has used the term ‘witch-hunting’ more than 337 times and he said that he has also faced witch-hunting. Not too long ago, he added that impeachment proceedings against him are a continuation of the worst witch-hunt in American political history. Senior IPS officer Param Bir Singh had also approached the honourable Supreme Court for shifting all the inquiries against him outside Maharashtra as he has faced a witch-hunt after alleging the former home minister of Maharashtra, Anil Deshmukh of fixing monthly extortion of Rs 100 crore.

The witch-hunt of protestors has gone beyond the student protestors. During the protest of CAA and NRC, many student protestors were arrested and this arrest was declared as a political witch-hunt of protestors by multiple renowned people. Among these students were Asif Iqbal Tanha, Umar Khalid Devangana Kalita, Natasha Narwal and many other students.

Although the form of witch-hunting has changed, this process is not new in India. In the past, the concept of witch-hunting was used only against a woman if her husband or son died or some calamity came into society. But now it has taken a strong place in politics and famous industries.

Meaning of witch-hunting

Many young people are fascinated by witchcraft after seeing it in the Harry Potter series. But this practice is a problem in society. The practice of witch-hunting is related to the word “witchcraft”. Witchcraft is made of two words ‘wicca’ and ‘craft’. Wicca means ‘witch’ and craft means ‘skill or ability’. So witchcraft is the belief in magical practices and the person who does this practice is known as a witch or wizard. Hunting or killing of these wizards or witches is known as witch-hunting.

But now the meaning of this term has changed. According to the Collins dictionary, the meaning of witch hunt is “an attempt to punish the person or group of people who are being blamed or accused of doing something wrong”. These people or that person will be punished because of his or their opinions and not because they have conducted something wrong. 

The origin of witch-hunting in India is not clear, but it was started in Assam, a hundred years ago. This is even prevalent in Europe. The witch-hunting is the custom of killing the targeted people to save society or their families from these evils or further misfortunes. 

In simple words, hunting is sometimes blaming some other person for something wrong that happened to one person.

Victims of a witch-hunt 

Women are the main target of this practice. Women are treated as the symbol of fortune and misfortune or luck or unluck to the family. So whenever any misfortune comes to the family, people start calling the woman a witch and confirm that she is unlucky to the family. That’s why this misfortune or calamity came. These misfortunes include the death of the woman’s husband, or son, or, or any male member of the family or any major natural calamity. This practice of witch-hunting, also known as “Dayan pratha”, is still taking place in the states of Assam, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

These women or sometimes people (either man or woman) from lower castes are considered as harmful for society and called witches. Therefore, witch-hunting is the custom of killing these people to save the family from these evils or further misfortunes.

Modern witch-hunting

Cyberbullying, media or social media trials are the new forms of witch-hunting in the era of technology. The term “witch-hunt” has made its special place in political and cultural strategies. Many politicians, industrialists, protestors and famous personalities are using this term in response to Mueller investigations, serious allegations and critics. As has been mentioned before, how Mr. Trump tweeted himself as a victim of a witch-hunt and how Mr. Param Bir Singh took the stand of a witch hunt for escaping from investigations.

These conducts are reflecting the modern use of the term “witch-hunt” as a metaphor for escaping from multiple critics and investigations.

Does the witch-hunting refer to only woman-hunting in modern time

Most of the victims of witch-hunting are women but it is not limited to this gender only in the present time. In modern times, witch-hunts are tied up in beliefs about gender, sex and power. At present, witch hunting contains a gender dynamic that’s often overlooked, particularly when a man in a position of power identifies himself as the target of a witch hunt. Anyone, a person in power, celebrity or industrialist irrespective of gender could be a victim of this process. We can also say that sometimes people in power take the help of a “witch-hunt” to escape from their liability and criticism. 

Various forms of witch-hunting in the present time

Witch-hunting of women 

Misogyny is still thriving in our modern society. This is not something new in Indian society. It has existed since very ancient times. The witch-hunt of Rhea Chakraborthy is the biggest example of witch-hunting in the twenty-first century. How the media and people were trying to convict her by hook or crook. When she was not convicted in Sushant’s death, then how she was allegedly arrested in a drug case. How police and the CBI were crossing their limits and they had surrounded her improperly without giving any physical space to her, they were bringing her in a very disrespectful manner. She is a woman and she did not get her space. Media and police officers were encroaching on her physical space. They were disrespectfully dragging her. She was not convicted by a court of law, still, the media was calling her a gold digger girlfriend of Sushant Singh Rajput and drug peddler of the Bollywood industry.

Why did she have to face these things? When she lost her loved one, instead of consoling her everyone was busy blaming and calling her names. Is it the matter where someone has to pay for the death of Sushant? Or someone has to pay because he or she had loved someone and was in a relationship with the person who has died? Or does she have to face it just because she is a woman? She was portrayed as the national vamp by the family of Sushant, media and social media.

There are many women in India like Rhea Chakraborty who have to go through this evil practice, but the death and crying of these women can’t be heard like Rhea Chakraborty as they are not any celebrities. But all these women have to go through this physical and mental pain. According to the report of NCRB, conducted in 2016, more than 2500 people have been tortured and killed in these hunts from 2006 to 2016 and most of them are women.

Witch-Hunt of institutions, journalists, activists, protestors and politicians as a political agenda

In the present time, the scope of witch-hunting has widened. Now, not only the women but various institutions, protestors, journalists and politicians are facing the witch-hunt by people in power or the government itself.

The incessant witch-hunt of human rights organisation, Amnesty International by the Government of India

The allegations of witch-hunting were levelled by Amnesty International, a non-governmental organization, working for the issues relating to human rights globally. The issue will be more clear when we talk about the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir. In 2019, when the Indian parliament took back the special status of the state of Jammu & Kashmir and reorganized it into two Union Territories, Amnesty International testified against this action of the government of India at the US Congressional hearing on human rights in South Africa. Amnesty International had claimed that 53 people died in these riots and Delhi Police answered the claim by addressing the report as malicious and biased. Further, the institute accused the government of suppressing freedom of speech and asked to release the activists of the Bhima Koregaon case which took place in 2018 near Pune in Maharashtra.

Amnesty International’s Indian accounts were frozen. But it approached the court and got the accounts reprieved. But the accounts were frozen again as the Home Ministry has said that Amnesty India is not registered under FCRA. All these events are showing that firstly the government in India were beating about the bush while answering the questions of Amnesty International and when it continued asking questions relating to reports of CAA riots and other questions, then the government of India planned to shut the NGO down by hook or crook.

Witch-hunting of protesters, activists and journalists

On one hand, the chief editor of the news channel, Republic TV, Arnav Goswami was accused of witch-hunting and on the other hand, some journalists are victims of witch-hunting. Protesters and journalists who were trying to telecast the true situation of CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019) and NRC (National Register of Citizens) protests were arrested under the draconian UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act), 1967 without any pieces of evidence. This action against an individual without following the proper process of law and in violation of norms of arrest and detentions laid down by the honourable Supreme Court reflects is absolute against the Constitution.

Recently, in February 2021, a 22-year old climate activist, Disha Ravi was arrested from Bangalore. Serious allegations were put on her name and it was said that she was indulged with the Khalistani movement related to farmers’ protest.

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Legislations related to witch hunt

Witch-hunting is not prominent in India only but many other countries as well. This is why we have multiple laws in force at the International, national and state-level which provide stringent punishment to the perpetrators of this evil practice.

International statutes

This practice violates:

National statutes 

There are no specific laws related to the prevention of witch hunts on the centre level, but there are some other statutes that can be used as an alternative for the victim. The different sections of the Indian Penal Code could be invoked in cases related to a witch hunt.

State statutes

According to the report of NCRB (National Crime Record Bureau) of the year, 2019, Chhattisgarh topped the rank with 22 murders due to witch-hunting and Jharkhand secured the third position. This is why many states have their legislation related to the crime of witch-hunting:

Case Laws 

State of West Bengal v. Kali Singh & Others (2018)

In this case, the honourable Calcutta High Court cited that the judicial execution is not enough to deal with the cases of witch-hunting, as it is there in the mind of people. In this case, three women were killed by seven people under the practice of witch-hunting. The court held that the state is not responsible enough to take care of these kinds of cases, as it failed in giving education to the people and making them aware of the practice.

Madhu Munda And Ors. v. the State Of Bihar (2003)

In this case, the son of Madhu Munda had lodged the FIR against the people who had harassed, tortured and dragged out and thrown his mother in a ditch in front of his eyes. She was lost and couldn’t come home for eight days, because she was lying unconscious in a ditch. The dilemma of this case is that the six accused persons were not punished because of unreliable witnesses who were the son, daughter and other family members of the victim itself.

Why this practice is still there in society

Witch-hunting is an evil practice that is found even in today’s time in various forms. There are multiple reasons why it is still thriving in society. One of the major reasons is that there is no awareness among people. We have legislation on various levels yet we are unable to finish it because the police or investigation agencies and administration do not take these cases seriously. In many small villages, people do not know that this is a crime, they do it either as a religious obligation or as a process to safeguard society.

Not only the perpetrators but the victims also are not aware of the fact that witch-hunting is a crime and they have laws against it. They do not know that a widow can not remorse the death of her husband through this evil practice.

What needs to be done to tackle this problem

  • Many states have legislation against witch-hunting but we do not have any central legislation to deal with this issue. This is why central legislation criminalizing witch-hunting is the need of the hour. If the victims became aware of its illegality, then we would have won the half-game.
  • Only having legislation is not going to help, awareness is the key to tackle this wrong practice. Government should organise campaigns against superstitions.
  • Victims of this practice must be provided compensation and rehabilitation.
  • The State Government must establish special cells to protect women from unwarranted violence.
  • Setting up Non-governmental Organisations may help.

Conclusion

In today’s era, witch-hunting is not limited to superstition only but this practice is used as a political tool. It is not limited to a particular caste, gender, caste or society anyone can be a victim of this practice irrespective of their caste, gender or status. Famous personalities or politicians are portraying themselves as the victim of witch-hunting and escaping from their liabilities. This evil practice is mushrooming because of online social media trials. People directly jump to the social media trials and conclusions without even waiting for the conclusion of the court of law. 

These conclusions and comments make the situation of the accused worse, they may face mental and physical trauma or they might have to lose their reputation and jobs. So eradication of witch-hunting is the need of the hour, and the government must come with separate legislations related to the practice of witch-hunting.

Reference

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