Village WITCHES : Consequence of superstitoon and illiteracy

It is Halloween time, so discussion about witches and witchcraft will sounds commonplace.However, recently five women were tortured for allegedly being witches in India. The details can be seen on http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8315980.stm

It is so horrendous that people in third world countries still believe in ghosts, witches and all sort of superstitions. I blame the the illiteracy as the contributing factor towards this kind of behavior. This is neither the first case that ever happened nor that last case that we will see. This incidences are very common in the rural India.

India is one of the fastest developing countries. When people talk about IT , economics , and for that matter, any thing ; India will always be mentioned. India is competing with developed countries in all the aspects, head to head;shoulder to shoulder. People love Indian cuisine, Bollywood is one of the biggest movie industry of the world; they make more movies per year than Hollywood. However, apart from this developed side there is one aspect of India which negates the entire achievement of it as a country. The underdevelopment of Indian villages.

Majorly people in rural India depend upon agriculture as occupation. However, farming in India is not the most coveted profession and farmers are not the rich people. Most farmers in India live below poverty line. They have not enough money to feed their families. The whole family work hard to get the bare minimum to survive. Generally these villages are deprived with the basic necessities like electricity and water supply. In some villages ladies have to walk ten miles to get a gallon of water, everyday.

Generally education is not very popular concept among the villagers. Government of India, spends million of dollars to create awareness in rural areas about literacy; but it is not impacting the masses.Corruption also have a part in it ,but that is another can of worms.However, the school enrollment among the kids in villages is increasing day by day. Though, it doesn't change the fact that there are still uneducated superstitious people living in the villages; who believe in ghost, and witches.

The lack of education also stops people to think rationally. Although,Social evils like discrimination on the basis of Caste, Child Marriage, and Dowry are illegal ;they are still being practiced in the villages. Yes, in this day and age. If you are unfamiliar with these words I will suggest to google them. I mean discrimination on the basis of caste not only exist in smaller villages but also in big cities. Several, ladies are still being burnt alive because of dowry all over the country. Every once in a while there is news of child marriage in the news paper.

So, when I saw this news I was not shocked actually; however, felt sad about the situation. I think I was fortunate not to be born in any of those conditions and be able to get education so that I will be able to distinguish between right and wrong. These, villages needs awareness so that people living in villages encourage their kids to go to school and help in eradicating the whole concept of superstition.

Cheers

P.S. If you loved this or you hated it to the core or you are in middle somewhere please leave a comment and let me know how you feel about it.