Casting the Evil Eye: Witch Trials in Tribal India by Archana Mishra, Goli Books, 2003, ISBN: 81-7436-214-2, Rs. 350
Hoi Tichum Bhardoo Tichum,
Saedai Teroloi Uotaang Idei Kaer,
Mass Vando Banga,
Hoi Rurar Mai Bhardoo Suar Mai,
Saedai Jugdoi, Naachur Ruar Mai
This is one of the many songs that can be heard while visiting a tribal household, hummed by tribal women engrossed in their daily household chores, either de-husking the grains using “Dhenki”(made of wood) or engaged in agriculture.
The book is a marvellous attempt by the author to throw light on the subject of witch-hunting which is less or never talked about. Today’s least opposed or concerned form of violence contradicts our modernised world. Witch hunts and witch trials manifest that two worlds exist, ignorant of each other. One world is our world of modernity, technologically sound, elitist, capitalist, urbanised and developed while the other is where women are being murdered in the name of belief and religion. A murder without guilt and remorse. A murder, where the victim is criminalised while the criminal is portrayed as the victim. ‘Casting the Evil Eye’, reflects the tribal society of Jharkhand and the need of tribal feminism. It questions the existing theories and norms of feminist scholars according to whom women’s empowerment comes through economic, political and civil rights.
Given that tribal villages and their houses represent a fair amount of tribal women who cannot be broken easily both mentally and physically. These women are already engaged in economic and political spaces; they have an adequate amount of representation and work both inside and outside the household. They are not dependent on their male counterparts and have sexual freedom, yet their empowerment becomes a curse. This again questions the notion of women’s empowerment that mere economic and political freedom of women is not enough to guarantee them a violence-free life.
The book transcends the boundaries of non-fiction and enters the realm of fiction through the narration of its case studies which transforms into stories of heart-wrenching circumstances faced by tribal women of Jharkhand. The book unfolds and hunts down the new forms of traditionally implicated forms of violence, which many believe or will believe if the story is foretold that witches or witch hunting only exists in fairy tales or in horror shows. The concept of witches and witchcraft is known to everyone. We have seen in movies, read novels, and heard stories even as folktales where we clap when the witches are burned down. But, we fail to recognise the violence in it. The author in this book highlights not only the plight of women who were portrayed as witches but also the whole process of ‘witch-making’. The witches are not born; they are made into witches or ‘Dain’. As Namita Gokhale writes in the book’s foreword, ‘Dain’ refers to a female witch with etymological roots in Diana, the huntress-goddess of ancient Greek. She asserts that in the beginning, God was a woman, and the concept changed slowly with gender hostility and power relation.
Mishra writes in her book about the ‘myth’ of how women become a witch by following rituals according to the people/folklore. But, she emphasises the concept of ‘White Magic’ and ‘Black Magic’, where white magic refers to good magic only attributed to men, who are called ‘Ojhas’/‘Shokhas’(witch doctors) have the power to identify and brand a woman as a witch. In contrast, black magic is attributed to women or the ‘dain’ (witches). The book also has chants and mantras used by both the Ojhas and the witches. Those chants will look like any other song or poem. If read carefully, both ‘Ojhas’ and ‘witches’, in some parts, could be seen praying to the same god, still one is treated as sacred, and the other becomes profane.
The ‘Evil Eye’ concept is about ‘Buri Nazar’, which most of us are familiar with. Evil eye or a bad eye can lead to death, bad harvest and diseases. And the rescuers are the Ojhas, who are considered as godfathers. Therefore, the villagers submit to his whims and fancies, and he acts as he wishes. The Ojhas are met with all the demands like supplying rice, meat, liquor and even sexual favours from women to escape his wrath. The killing, lynching, and decapitation of women labelled as witches or Dains get sanctioned by their kin and villagers. And those who kill them are worshipped as ‘Heroes’. These crimes are associated with gender conflict and power relations. What scares women is not death but the process of humiliation, the never-ending terror which will haunt them in the name of witchcraft. How they are hunted down is scary for them. They are forced to parade naked in the village with heads tonsured, their breasts being cut off, sexually assaulted, gang raped, teeth being broken, beaten, hot water being thrown at them; made to drink urine and eat human excreta, human flesh, drink the blood of animals and they fear the murder of their family. Death is only a mercy and easy punishment to accept.
While it takes us to another question of who are these women who become targets? Women who are single, widowed, both young and beautiful, as well as old, having property or earning a living become the target of jealousy within their circle and even by Ojhas. As highlighted by the author in one of the case studies of Chutni Mahto or Chutni Devi, a fine example of courage and determination. She was recently awarded Padam Shri for her exemplary work among victims of witch-hunting. She is a witch-hunting survivor. She was branded as a witch and not only humiliated and ostracised from her husband’s house but as the author says, “she was forced by the villagers to swallow human excreta and urine to get rid of evil spirits”. The author further analyses the category of crime it should be dealt with since “it was neither murder nor rape or dowry death, but something much worse”. Can anything be more degrading and inhuman than being made to eat human excreta? It’s a very intriguing question posed by the author.
The book is an illustration of writing that crosses academic and non-academic boundaries through its case studies and the power of narration. The author here works as an observer and detached narrator, presenting the field experiences and stories encountered as she is on her journey “into the land of witches” in Jharkhand. The narrative technique is a blend of journalistic style with a pinch of ethnography. The book reflects tribal land, culture, past, and present and is an introspective journey of their future lives. Lastly, in search of justice, she delves into the legal aspect where the state comes into play. Here, the state is being portrayed as a resort for providing relief, compensation and solution to the victims. In the end, as I come from the ‘Land of Witches’, the state of Jharkhand, I was left with a feeling of remorse, pain, fear, hopelessness and shock for both the victims and the criminals who are mere pawns in the hand of religion and Ojhas/Shokhas (witch-doctors). Mishra’s book is a work of empathy and elaborated documentation of the women tormented in the name of witchcraft and witch craze. It is not only about the stigma these women face, but it is also about superstition, hidden patriarchy, ignored forms of violence, and constant fear of being attacked anytime and anywhere.
References:
Casting the Evil Eye: Witch Trials in Tribal India. https://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/casting-evil-eye-witch-trials-in-tribal-india-ide921/
Jagriti Pandit works on Public Policy and Political economy. She is currently a Ph.D. Scholar in Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, Jawaharlal Nehru University.
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