The Fight Against Witch Hunting in India by Hiya Saikia

The Fights Against Witch Hunting in India

Meghna Dutta, a resident of Dublin 8 makes her own way to create awareness of with hunting in India from abroad.

by Hiya Saikia

After working for numerous Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) back in India, Meghna Dutta, a resident of Dublin 8, made her journey towards Ireland to complete her second masters in Trinity College and University College Dublin. Her journey began from Jorhat, Assam; her hometown. She completed her further studies in the University of Delhi.

Being a student of sociology background, she was involved in organisations like Touch India Trust, founded in 2003, whose main motive was to involve new generations who are willing to question and challenge the existing structure in society in order to build a better one.

Her involvement in the organisation Women In Governance as an intern in 2013, got her introduced to Witch Hunting, which is now a dream project of hers. She says “While doing my fieldwork and collecting case studies for domestic violence against women, I was startled to see the subjugating position of women with men always having the higher authority and this made me determined to work for these helpless women and bring them into forefront in the society.” Women In Governance is an organisation working against the violation of human rights.

She was also a fieldwork researcher in Passion Movement (2015–2017), an organisation that adopted slums and took care of their health and security. She also presented her research paper on “An Insight into Violence Against Women in India” at the 15th International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities at Imperial College, London, 2017.

Meghna Dutta is currently a PhD student of Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan. Her research topic is, “Witch Hunting: A Culmination of Gender Based Violence and Superstitious Belief Among the Rabha Community of Goalpara, Assam, India.” I want to continue my research in this field and I believe my research project ‘Witch Hunting in Assam’ will be an eye opener for many Non-Governmental Organisations that are working towards curbing this menace in the north eastern region of India “

Completing her studies back in India and making the decision to work as a high school educator in Assam Valley School, Tezpur, Assam, was not the ultimate goal of the socially enthusiastic woman. She worked as a high school educator for more than a year before her dreams made her bound to do something to better society. Leaving behind her job and family back in India was not that easy, but her desire to fulfil her passions and dreams was an equally important matter to her. Witch hunting involves branding a woman as a witch based on the declaration of a quack. Though a small percentage of men are also branded, it is mostly the women who are targeted as witches. It is associated with the use of black magic/supernatural power for inflicting harm to people and their property, bringing misfortune, causing disease or awakening love/passion within somebody.

The woman who is suspected of being a witch is dragged out of their house and tortured and beaten. The victim, if they somehow manage

Portrait of Meghna Dutta. Photo by Hiya Saikia

to survive, is then ostracized from the village and stripped of their property. Sometimes the village chief imposes a heavy fine on the family of the woman in order to relieve her of her misdeeds towards her fellow villagers.

Meghna says that though the constitution of India has granted equal rights to men and women, still in the sphere of women’s human rights in India, there exists a wide gulf between theory and practice. Witch hunting involves gross violation of human rights as the victim loses all her rights and dignity of being a human and is treated as a wicked entity who brings misfortune to a community.

Creating awareness of human rights and Mission Birubala, is the main theme of Meghna’s project. Mission Birubala is the brainchild of Birubala Rabha, established on 23rd October 2011, to fight the problem of witch-hunting exclusively and in a more effective way.

Birubala Rabha is an Indian dissident who crusades against black magic and witch hunting in Goalpara, Assam which is in India. She runs an association called Mission Birubala which spreads mindfulness against witch hunting. She was instrumental in the Assam Government passing the Prevention of and Protection from Witch Hunting Act, 2015. The Government of India granted her the fourth most noteworthy regular citizen honour of the Padma Shri, in 2021, for her commitments to social work. She is also known as ‘The Indian woman who hunts witch hunters.’

She also mentions that Witch Hunting will also be her research topic soon. She believes that illiteracy leads to superstition which mostly prevails in India. The only way to stop or prevent it is to make people more aware of it.

This brave woman, along with working for the well-being of society, is also a dog lover as she mentions. She has been working for charity organisations for dogs that provide shelter and food to street dogs. She also mentions that her mother, Rashmi Hazarika Dutta, who is a high school educator, is her motivator and hero.

The front of John Gunn shop. Photo courtesy of Miguel Ángel Vilela via Flickr