Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)
Bengaluru, Mar 24: Wilting under pressure brought on him by his own party legislators, state chief minister (CM), Siddaramaiah, decided not to go ahead with the ban he had promised to bring on the religious ritual of walking on red hot cinders to please divine powers.
During discussions on demand to enhance compensation to people who suffered burn injuries after falling into a heap of cinders recently at a temple near Tumakuru, the CM on Tuesday had announced in the state assembly that he would bring legislation to ban this practice. However, at the Congress parliamentary party meeting held here on Wednesday, most of the legislators opposed the CM on the issue, although a few stood by him.
Some of the legislators questioned the CM the need to take such a step at present. They also decried law minister, T B Jayachandra's repeated references to Anti Superstition Bill in the assembly, creating piquant situation for the government.
It is gathered that Congress legislators, when concurring that walking on hot cinders is a superstition, pointed out that it has been a tradition in a large number of rural places where people believe that not undertaking this annual ritual would heap miseries on them. Announcing a ban against this practice all of a sudden, they argued, would pit the people against the party.
At the end, the CM agreed to drop the issue then and there, and agreed with the party MLAs demand not to go ahead with the ban.