How Do Myths Danger Society? A perspective on India.

India is a land of religious beliefs, practices and mystics that go a long way before, and is still going on. Ranging from believing in a hundred crore gods to having different sects of the same religion, as well as praying to a single formless entity, it has no dearth of believers and followers. It is also known for its myths and legendary stories that differ in some form or the other every hundred miles or so. For instance, as per Hindu beliefs, a cow is sacred and should not be harmed at any cost, however, at a temple, near Manali, it is believed that sacrificing a cow is the purest form of sacrifice. Again, Catholics believe in praying to the Virgin Mary whereas Baptists pray to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Also, questions about the leadership of Islam have divided into two sects, namely, the Shias and the Sunnis.

Myths go a long way in India. Usually they have been through oral narratives handed down from generation to generation (do not look at the mirror at night) and the origins or reasons are often unknown. Although some other forms of spreading these myths were through ballads or poems as well as through carvings in temples, ancient monuments, etc. These myths are so strongly embedded in our minds that knowingly or unknowingly we all fall prey to it. Like, a lot of people, including well- educated ones pay a huge amount of money to priests without any questions in order to ‘appease the wrath of Gods’.

Some of these myths are known to have caused criminogenic activities in our society, and they have been known to affect children, women and the underprivileged sections of the society, not necessarily in that order. Some of such examples of increasing crimes in lieu of religion and based on false beliefs are:

• Female foeticide- it is the result of the myth that giving birth to a son or having a son is a sure shot way of reaching heaven after death.
• Sati pratha- for years women have been ostracized in the name of Sati and even though no solid evidences exist, but many Sati temples exist in Rajasthan which show that the practice of burning widows in the name of religion might still be prevalent.
• Dowry deaths- they are one of the brutal realities we hear or see every day in the name of baseless myths and false beliefs which state that women should bring untold wealth to their in- laws’ place. These women are oppressed by the patriarchal society on the basis of these false beliefs and it is still continuing.
• Problem of lower castes- here, we would like to cite the example of the sweepers and/or toilet cleaners (zamadars, as we call them) who mostly belong to the lower castes. According to a survey by India Today in 2011 in Delhi, 90% of these workers belong to the ‘Valmiki’ caste, and the rest have changed their surnames to lower caste names in order to avoid embarrassment. Also, in every government institution/ office lower caste people are employed for these jobs resulting in the criminogenic condition of oppression which further leads to prejudices, stereotypes and ultimately to crime.

OBJECTIVES

The main objective of the paper is to study the social issues associated with myths and religious beliefs in India which have led to criminogenic conditions in our country. The purpose of this study is to show how these myths and false beliefs are corroding our society and slowing down the process of social development.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research methodology is purely based on secondary data taken from books, audio books, blogs, articles, newspaper clippings, encyclopaedia, some religious articles as well as the internet. The primary data is mostly practical observations and experiences gained by the authors from the field work at graduate level and interviewing people from different walks of life. These people range in their caste, race, ethnicity, religion and state. Sampling, as such, was not possible due to paucity of time and the vastness of the subject. However, the authors have tried their best to research and find as many participants as possible to make it comprehensive and ensure that the data is genuine. They have also cross- checked the facts through interviews with people from the backgrounds mentioned above as well as with secondary data.

RESEARCH FINDINGS

The topics which have been touched in this study are:

LGBT: In mythological times, homosexual people were termed as kinnars and kinnariyas and were not treated like outcastes. In fact they were considered a distinct race somewhere between human beings and gods and were said to originate in the Himalayas, though it is still debatable as most literatures and myths have different opinions on their origins. According to Rajatarangini they originated from Brahma, the Matsya Puran says that they were of the same origins as the Devas and so on. However, myths and folklores have been misinterpreted and by 1970 A.D the discrimination of the LGBT was to such an extent that it was considered a disease. Although slowly, by the 90s people were more accepting, but were still orthodox when it came to their families. The honour killing cases for committing the ‘crime’ of being a homosexual have been on the rise. For instance, Beena and Savita from Gurgaon, the first Lesbian couple to get married in India have received death threats from 14 of their family members, and are now being granted asylum. In the past year alone India has seen two homosexual couples killing themselves over the fear of their families brutally murdering them. Homosexuality is still widely frowned upon in India, with the health minister recently speaking out at a national HIV/AIDS convention against the "MSM disease" -- men who have sex with men. Along with the now famous Section 377, discrimination to the LGBT community have given rise to crimes like suicides and honour killing murders.

Juveniles: the common belief that boys below 18 years do not have sexual urges or cannot perform sexually has always stopped the law from granting them stricter punishments for rape cases. In the Mumbai gangrape case, the grandmother of one of the juveniles clearly stated that her grandson cannot commit the crime as he is still a ‘child’. Again, in the case of the denotified tribes- some of them are still considered criminals leading to prejudicial beliefs extending to their children too. For example, the Pardi Community mainly found in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and others are being stereotyped as criminal tribes. So much so that their children are not accepted in schools, which, along with nothing to do and nowhere to go as well some amount of self- fulfilling prophecy lead them to commit petty crimes as a means to fill their stomach.

Women: there is a false belief in many parts of India that if a person suffering from diseases like cancer, AIDS or any disease at all, has sex with a virgin; he would be cured of it and become sacred as the disease would transfer on to the girl. This has led to many rape cases in our country. Also, witch- hunting over the fact that a particular woman is the reason for diseases or deaths in the village and then brutally killing her is also one of the heinous crimes occurring due to some false beliefs. What people cannot see is that those who instigate such killings have ulterior motives like revenge or claiming their property, etc. Although widows are not as oppressed as they were before, but in parts of Mathura and Varanasi it still exists. Widows are made to shave their heads, eat plain and bland foods. This is mainly to make them look unattractive to any men as well as to suppress any kind of sexual feelings they might have.

Marginalised Societies: there has always been a controversy regarding the tribal people or the word ‘tribal’. Some fractions of the BJP- RSS sections had claimed them to be vanvasis whereas Ambedkar claimed them to be Adivasis. There also exists social contradiction between the higher castes and lower castes, case in point, most of the high positions in government offices are being held by people from high castes as they are promoted before the lower castes. This leads to the latter retorting to black marketeering and corruption in the form of bribery to fulfill their financial wants as well as to maintain their status in society. Also, it could be seen that honour killings for same gotra marriages occur mainly among lower castes as they are less powerful and could be easily oppressed.

Religion: India is not unknown to religious riots and fights that have occurred from time to time. Ranging from Sikh riots of 1984 to Naokhali riots of 1989 to Bhiwadi riots of 1993 and who can forget the Gujarat riots of 2002? The aftermath of these riots is that though the fights stop, the hatred remains, the stigma reserved for each other’s religions stay. Due to these very emotional scars in Kashmiri Pandits, terrorism rose in that region. The false belief that one’s religion is superior leads to riots and violence. India is a secular country and is open to all religions but sadly sometimes the actions allay that fact. For instance, the Defence System in our country uses Hindu names for its missiles, helicopters, etc. Examples range from Agni to Prithvi to Pavan Hans.

Rural Areas: Bonded labour exists in rural areas of Odisha due to the fact that the higher castes believe that lower castes are ‘born’ to be slaves. Again, in cotton producing factories in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka, children are used for cotton plucking as they have soft hands, but the fact remains that if soft hands are the only criteria then women are suitable for that job, however the truth is children are made to work at much lesser rates of wages and are thus employed. This leads to these children not getting any education and when they grow up most of them become daily wage labourers, but a number of them take to a life of petty crimes to sustain themselves as well as to sniffing glue and other lethal drugs. The same is the case with children working in firecracker and glass bangle factories.

Environment/ Wildlife: The belief that Cheetah tooth, elephant ivory and rhino horn are helpful in warding off the evil eye and in giving strength have given rise to poaching in spite of Anti- Poaching Act, 1972. Again, immersion of half- burnt ashes of dead bodies have polluted the Ganges and destroying the ecosystem. According to a documentary by the National Geographic Channel, the urine content in the Ganges rises by 600% during the Kumbh Melas. Also, dropping of coins in holy rivers is a cause of concern for the environment. Previously, coins were of copper and they purified water but now they are made of nickel, chromium and bronze alloy leading to added pollutants in water bodies. Another instance of water pollution is that during the janau ceremony of Brahmin boys, their shaved hair are immersed in water leading to imbalances in aquatic flora and fauna.

Prostitution: It is believed in many places, especially in West Bengal, that a handful of clay for Durga idols should come from a prostitute’s courtyard. This leads to them being treated separately and thus leading to more stigmatization.

Godmen: Swami Nityanand, Swami Aseemanand, Swami Premanand, the list of swamis or godmen and their ungodly deeds go on. In spite of their notorious characters and even notorious acts, they have a huge number of followers who are ready to do anything for them and these man keep on exploiting their followers and usurping their money in the name of religion.

CONCLUSION

The oppressors oppress the society by creating myths that suit them and make them even more powerful. False beliefs and criminogenic conditions are due to misinterpretation of every religious texts by these so called powerful people. Obscure practices by communities are illogical and are based upon superstitions and have no rational base. Narender Achyut Dabholkar, a rationalist was shot dead in Pune- his only fault was that he wanted people to be aware of the false beliefs and remove superstition from their minds. Raja Ram Mohum Roy had to struggle a lot to eradicate the practice of Sati, but people revolted gainst him for his radical ideas once. Not to generalize, but Indians have low tenacity for change especially those related to religion and a tough road lies ahead for rationalists and modern social reformers. Article 51 (H) states that the duty of citizens is to develop scientific temper, but instead of that it is this very literate society which is turning out to be harmful to the lower strata leading to them leading lives of crime and damaging society.

REFERENCES

Bajpai, Shiva Chandra; Kinnaur in the Himalayas: Mythology to Modernity; Concept Publishing; Delhi, 1981

Levi-Strauss, Claude; Myth and Meaning; Routledge Classics; New York; 1978

India Today; December 21^st, 2011