BANGALORE: Writer Banjagere Jayaprakash feels the NRIs , in the post-liberalized India, were contributing in the growth of superstitious beliefs .

Speaking at a state-level dialogue on the proposed Karnataka Prevention of Superstitious Practices Bill 2013 organized by the ActionAid and Swaraj, he said: "It is a weird irony. Post-globalization, the revivalists have grown in strength. The NRIs settled in the USA and UK are sending money to build mutts and temples and helping in the spread of superstition."

Jayaprakash, who was involved in the consultation process of the bill drafting, clarified that the bill does not touch upon the issue of belief. "It is not about atheism. Belief and faith is not addressed. The bill only deals with exploitation in the name of belief and inhuman treatment of people," he said.

The participants were unanimous that superstition and intolerance had indeed increased in the last 20 years. Giving the struggles of late Dr H Narasimhaiah and Narendra Dabholkar as an examaple, Jayaprakash said: "Then, Narasimhaiah took on Puttaparthi Sai Baba and spearheaded rationalist movement in the state. But, nobody harmed him. But, now, Dabholkar has been murdered for speaking in favor of reason."

The writer felt that people were reeling under insecurity and embracing the supernatural due to absence of employment and social security. He gave the example of the mushrooming of Lord Shani temples. "Earlier, Brahmins weren’t worshiping Lord Shani. In fact, in Karnataka, the only known temple of Shani was in Pavagada in Tumkur district. Today, you find a lot of Shani temples in the villages," he said.

Activist Anasuyamma felt people were more rationalistic in the 1970s and 1980s when the social and literary movements had momentum. "The decline of these movements has strengthened tradition and superstition," she said.

The participants deliberated on how the superstitious practices continue to subjugate the lives of women and oppressed communities, denying them a dignified life. They elaborated on how practices like naked worship and Devadasi uphold the patriarchal ideology and subjected women to physical, mental, sexual and financial and cultural exploitation.

"It is only the poor, illiterate and lower caste women who will be possessed by devil or the spirit. The devils do not go near the educated women from upper castes," said Jayaprakash.

The activists working in different areas from across the state shared their experiences about how some practices during marriage, widowhood, menstruation, childbirth discriminated and exploited women. "I love flowers. But, after my husband died, the bitter experience in the name of ritual has left me scarred. Now, I don’t wear flowers," said Anusuya, an activist.