Jharkhand’s tribal chieftains and ojhas need to stop, demands activists

RANCHI: Jharkhand has a witch-hunting problem stemming from the age-old ‘ojhas’ causing the death of over 40-50 people, mostly women, each year.

Activists in Jharkhand demanded on Monday, December 13, a law to be implemented so as to stop the practice of witch-hunting in the state. The law would hold the witch-doctors and tribal chieftains accountable for the torturing and killing in the name of cure.

National Crime Records Bureau stated that Jharkhand ranked third with its high amount of witch-hunting cases. The latest death recorded was in September, where a family of three was hanged to death for allegedly practicing black magic in Lota village, Gumla district.

Premji, Chairman, Free Legal Aid Committee (FLAC), stated that implementing such a law will help in curbing the practice. However, there is a need for creation of awareness at the ground level. He recommended that students should be taught about this in schools; programmes should be aired on television and radio; and anganwadi workers should be trained to generate awareness in this regard.

Premji further informed that the witch-hunting cases are seriously under-reported and that the authorities need to implement a law against it. Tribals have faith in the wisdom of ‘ojhas’ who identify the local witches and hence the process of hunting them continues. Premji stated that political parties need to include the issue in their election manifesto and come up with a solution for the same.

Premji put forward a possible solution to provide employment opportunities to the ojhas such as developing herbal parks where they can practice herbal medicine. The local politicians provide patronages to the leaders of the traditional tribal self-rule system. Premji stated that in his opinion the circle needs to break in order to stop such incidents from occurring.