Guwahati (Assam): The Assam government on Wednesday in the Assembly introduced a bill titled 'The Assam Healing (Prevention of Evil) Practices Bill, 2024' to put a ban on the practice of hypnotism and incantation in the name of medical treatment and healing.
It may be recalled that the bill was approved in the state cabinet meeting on February 10 and then introduced in the Assembly today. If this bill becomes an Act, practice of incantation or black magic will be treated as a criminal practice. As per the provision, a fine of Rs 1 lakh will be imposed along with a jail term of five years for such offenses.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Pijush Hazarika, tabled the bill on behalf of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in the House on Wednesday. According to this bill, no one will be able to sell medicines through fake propaganda and advertisements of this sort cannot be published.
In the event of the bill being passed, the Act will be applicable across the state and an officer below the rank of sub-inspector will not be able to investigate such cases. On the other hand, the state government will conduct awareness programmes against practice of such malpractices.
This bill has been brought in the interest of building a healthy and scientific society and is meant to prevent fraudulent activities in the name of treatment, the government said. It is to be noted that heinous incidents like witch-hunt have been on a rise in the state due to the practice of black magic and incantations.
The Government said that this bill has been advocated to create a healthy society, free of superstitions and misbeliefs. Meanwhile, several other amendment bills were introduced in the Assembly today. ‘The Assam Village Defence Organisation (Amendment) Bill, 2024 and 'The Assam Municipal (Amendment) Bill, 2024' were also tabled today.
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