I know many of us have been apalled at the recent news of a woman being burnt alive in Chitwan. We all have our opinion on how this could have been avoided: better education, equal rights and what not!

But rarely we look at the incitations caused by leaders, usually popular con-artists, baba and in this case, a traditional healer. I was reading an article related to this, and I was not surprised: 

The discord was further fueled by Jogeshwor, a popular traditional healer. “He said there was a witch in the Mahato family, and Bikana´s family promptly pointed the finger at Dhegeni,” said Chaudhari. “However, Dhageni never objected; she continued to work on their land whenever ordered to,” she added.

There have been many debates in Sajha over the years. I have seen the most respected of sajha intellectuals use the phrase "I do not have the problem of people believing in "These kind of stuff" as long as it doesn't hurt anyone. Well, see, that's where the problem starts. It does hurt. maybe not today, but in the long run.

I know there is a very fine line among our culture, tradition and religion. But there are also absolute shockers and nutjobs that can be done away with. Today, there are millions in KTM, Rich, educated, elites and poor alike that throng to the likes of so called "nepali sai baba" to witness him do cheap magic tricks like vomiting out tiny shivalingas (how gross is that), and pay exorbitantly to make their lives better, and we'll continue to say, it is people's faith. It doesn't hurt anyone.

I feel so helpless at this notion!