Guwahati: In a groundbreaking move on January 21, the Assam government presented the Assam Healing (Prevention of Evil) Practices Bill, 2024, during the ongoing budget session in the state assembly. This crucial legislative initiative, introduced by State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pijush Hazarika on behalf of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, is designed to cultivate social awareness and establish a secure, science-based environment aimed at protecting public health.
The primary objective of the proposed bill is to eradicate non-scientific healing practices rooted in ignorance and ill-intent, which often exploit unsuspecting individuals. Section 3 of the bill empowers the government to prohibit evil or magical healing practices for specific diseases, while Section 4 allows for the prohibition of misleading advertisements related to such practices.
The bill includes several significant sections focused on curbing inhuman healing practices. Section 5 grants the government the authority to penalise acts or promotions of such practices, extending to imprisonment for a duration of one to three years, or a fine of Rs 50,000, or both. For repeat offenders, Section 6 outlines the potential for up to five years of imprisonment or a fine of Rs 1 lakh, or both. Additionally, Section 9 provides the government with the ability to appoint police officers as Vigilance officers, while Section 16 empowers the government to frame rules for the effective implementation of the bill.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma underscored the bill’s significance in combatting evangelism, particularly targeting tribal communities vulnerable to conversion. He expressed the government’s commitment to preserving the religious status quo and eradicating coercive conversion practices.
Earlier CM Sarma emphasised, “This is a crucial bill to curb the conversion of tribal people in the state. We want to ban evangelism in Assam.” The legislation seeks to provide relief to victims of magical healing by criminalising practitioners, regardless of their religion, involved in magical healing under the guise of treatment. It specifically addresses congenital diseases such as deafness, dumbness, blindness, physical deformities, and autism.
Once enacted, the “Assam Healing (Prevention of Evil) Practices Bill 2024” is poised to serve as a pivotal tool in the state’s efforts to shield vulnerable populations from coercive conversions masked as magical healing.
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