The state government unanimously passed a bill to abolish the practice of black magic and tantrik activities on the first day of the Monsoon Session in the state assembly. The Gujarat Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and Other Inhuman, Evil, and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Bill, 2024 was previously tabled in 2008 and 2012, but did not go through until Aug 21. 

With this, Gujarat will become the seventh state to enact such a law; Maharashtra, Karnataka, Orissa, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Assam already have one in place targeting “black magic practitioners” who are variously styled as godmen, aghori babas or bhuvas. 

Notably, a Gujarat High Court division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal is currently hearing a PIL (public interest litigation), which has been seeking action against unlawful tantrik activities in the state.

The state has seen two people die in human sacrifices as recently as 2022, while similar rituals claimed five lives in 2020.

According to the PIL, recent victims have included minor girl who was tortured to death by her father and uncle as part of an occult ritual, a farmer couple who ended their lives in a brutal act of human sacrifice, and a two-month-old baby girl who was maimed and killed by a witch doctor. 

Discussions in the House 

During discussions on the issue, BJP MLA Dr CJ Chavda, who represents Vijapur, said: “Gujarat should be preparing for a robotic revolution in the next 10 years. Instead, we are still dealing with superstition, black magic and psychological warfare among the people. These bhuvas cause people trouble and cost them both time and resources.” He underscored the importance of the legislation in protecting the people from bhuvas and tantriks. 

Kankrej MLA Amrutji Thakor pointed out that anyone could fall prey to bhuvas and tantriks. “For instance,” he said, “even financially well-off and educated parents lead their children towards blind faith and black magic if the latter don’t get good jobs.” 

Patan MLA Dr Kirit Patel concurred. “Teachers and government officials are not immune either,” he said, adding that whistleblowers should be given anonymity and protection against reprisals from such “practitioners of dark magic”.

Highlighting the mention of blessings of supernatural powers in the bill, he pointed out that “talk of lighting a lamp in 2020 was like talking about ringing a thali in 2021 (during the COVID-19 pandemic)”. 

Adding a note of levity to the proceedings, the Congress party's deputy leader and Dani Limda MLA Shailesh Parmar sarcastically stated that a “woman corporator had performed black magic” on him, and that he wears beads to ward off the effect of her efforts. 

He also joked that black magic had led the two Congress MLAs who had introduced the bill to jump ship to the BJP. 

On a slightly more serious note, he pointed out that Asaram bapu, the self-styled godman and convicted rapist, would have been imprisoned in Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati Jail, and not a Jaipur jail.  

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Home, Harsh Sanghavi urged the people’s representatives to come together in unity to have the bill turned into a law. He also exhorted his colleagues to work together to convince the public to turn away from superstition. 

Hedging his bets, he also said that “respectable bhuvas” would not be targeted under the new legislation since it was intended purely to protect the public from being exploited in the name of witchcraft and ghosts.

Also read:

Three-day monsoon session of Gujarat Legislative Assembly begins today

Why no anti-superstition laws in Gujarat? HC asks state