Two gruesome incidents that can cost India its name have occurred in Delhi and Maharashtra. While the first incident shows the country still seeped in superstition, the second one shows the denigrating law and order system of this country.
Eleven members of a family, including seven women have ended their lives in Delhi. All their bodies were found in the state they had hung themselves. All of them have followed a similar thought and operation process. The whole incident is very mysterious. Books relating to black magic and supernatural powers were found in the house. They all probably died with the hope that some divine superpower would save them at the last minute. The family not only firmly believed in god, but also had great interest in paranormal practices. Either one of them has killed every one and ended his own life; or all of them ended their lives by their own will. Investigations have pointed fingers towards such truths. The family was well educated. If such families have to fall prey to ending lives seeking divine powers, it shows that people still live in the illusion of superstition.
Television channels broadcast programmes relating to paranormal techniques or such practices for higher TRP. They also evoke fear and sense of uncertainty among people. Faith is different from blind belief in superstition. But here, both seem to have been mixed up. This incident has taken place owing to those who thought they’d make everything work to save them. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened.
Everyone including media, politicians and industrialists are guilty of perpetuating this belief. They keep following false gods to fulfil their greed, and this mislead innocent people. Agents of superstition such as black magic and voodoo practitioners, self proclaimed gods, vaastu experts and other perpetuate such unsubstantiated beliefs. For them, it is mere business. But for people, it is the only lifeline they hang from.
Faith in god should save us, instead of finishing us off. Such beliefs never take us to god. In such cases, it is better being an atheist than a believer. Today, government is directly involved in propagating such beliefs. Every politician follows a swamiji who dictates his life like a remote controller.
All their faith is to clinch power during this lifetime, and not for some spiritual realization. This could be the failure of our education system too that it couldn’t create awareness. The incident in north Delhi is a testimony of this. Our education couldn’t convince people that their search of Jihad is similar to this and it does not lead to heaven at all. While we speak against Jihadis, we also need to address this issue of blackmagic through the language of law.
In the recent times, a lady had severed her tongue to earn the affection of her goddess. One would wonder who gave her this impression that her god would be pleased with this. If those people are not punished, their numbers will increase with passing time. Though a war has been waged against superstition, intellectuals didn’t invest themselves in this to ensure it was implemented. The government isn’t willing to admit self proclaimed babas harm the image of this country more than anything else because government is caught in their web.
In another incident, five people have been beaten to death by mobs which assumed they were child traffickers. This happened in Dhule in Maharashtra. While people are unabatedly engaging themselves in such rumour based crime, assumed to be a ‘quasi government’ by themselves, gau rakshaks have also ruined things for worse. They work like police force with no hesitation of being caught doing wrong. They are responsible for new found appetite for human blood powered by technology. A lot of people have died owing to this and even more lives would be lost soon. Gau rakshaks work as an inspiration to many what with their power structure and privileges they enjoy.
These assaults cleverly employ the loopholes in legal system to carry out with their lynching. Most of the times, it is their communal feeling that pushes them into such behaviour. Most of the migrant laborers have been victims of their sporadic violence and they are usually dalits. The mobs know killing someone in a group can help them escape punishment. While superstition is claiming lives, on the other, communal forces are killing people by giving their verdict by spreading rumours and egging people on through unsubstantiated whatsapp forwards that have ended many lives by now. If central home minister prefers to maintain silence and not open his mouth to condemn it, even cops may lose their lives at the hands of such vilified forces.
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New Delhi (PTI): A beleaguered Axar Patel admitted that both his team's batters and bowlers let the side down after Delhi Capitals suffered a humiliating eight-wicket defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders, virtually ending their IPL 2026 playoff hopes, while indicating the team had already begun looking ahead to the next season.
DC endured a miserable outing at home, managing only 142/8, which Kolkata Knight Riders chased down in just 14.2 overs, powered by a blistering unbeaten 100 from Finn Allen and his destructive stand with Cameron Green (33 not out) as the visitors tore apart the bowling attack.
With just eight points from 11 matches, DC are eighth on the table, while KKR revived their playoff hopes with a resurgent run, moving to seventh with nine points from 10 outings, though their road to the knockouts still remains difficult.
"For now, we'll go back and think about the mistakes we made. After that, obviously there's still a long journey ahead and next year will come too. So we'll think about what plans we can make for next year and what approach we should take," said Axar after the match.
"Based on that, we can also look at the players sitting on the bench and decide who can be given opportunities and what changes we can make," he added, hinting at a possible major overhaul next season.
With 200-plus totals becoming the norm this season, 142 was always going to be inadequate, and Axar admitted the score was well below par while also pointing out at poor judgement shown by the spinners while defending the modest total.
"I think the runs were definitely below par and at the same time the spinners made quite a few mistakes. Looking at the way the pitch behaved, I feel the spinners did make errors.
"At the same time, we lost five wickets in two-three overs, and I think that's where the momentum slipped away from us. That's probably something we need to think about because the same thing happened against CSK...we started well, and then suddenly wickets kept falling," he added.
He admitted the solutions to the issues could be found but players need to show the right mindset and character.
"See, you can't solve it in a complicated way. So, I think it's more about applying the right mindset. Even if you lose one or two wickets, you can still spend time at the crease and play through it. I think that's what needs to be applied, when wickets are falling in clusters, you need to absorb the pressure for an over or two," opined Axar.
KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane was pleased to see a struggling Finn Allen finally rediscover his touch with the bat.
"I'm really happy for Finn Allen. He was struggling first four or five games, working really hard, but the way he batted tonight was fantastic. But I want to praise our bowlers again.
"We did well because of them. And they've been doing it so well consistently, especially those middle overs and the death overs. Our spinners, Sunil Narine, Varun (Chakravarthy) and Anukul Roy, have been fantastic," he said.
"Fielding-wise, yes, we are working really hard. Our fielding coach has been really strict with us. And that's what has been helping us. The result which you've been seeing about the catches and the ground fielding, credit goes to our fielding coach as well," he added.
