The Maharashtra government decided on Wednesday to promulgate an ordinance against black magic, blind faith and superstition, a day after activist Narendra Dabholkar, who was campaigning since the 1990s for such a law, was shot dead in Pune by unidentified gunmen.
A bill on this was even passed once by the Assembly, in December 2005, but lapsed pending approval from the Legislative Council.
Dabholkar and the organisation he led, Committee for Eradication of Blind Faith, had come into conflict with religious groups over their campaign for this law. A sect called the Warkaris opposed the bill, and found support from the Shiv Sena and BJP.
The Cabinet meeting that decided on promulgating the ordinance was a stormy one, said a minister who did not want to be identified. Public works minister Chhagan Bhujbal proposed the ordinance, he added.
The objections of the influential Warkari sect came up for discussion, and it was decided changes would be made in the ordinance when it came up in the Assembly.
Home minister R.R. Patil came in for criticism from his colleagues at the meeting, sources said. He shifted the blame to the Pune police, saying he had been left with “no powers” and claimed he could not even get an “ordinary police officer” transferred any longer, one minister said.