Things I Muse About

Each day, the NY Times sends me a list of what they think are interesting articles. I scan through the headlines and short descriptions and pick some to read... sometimes none, sometimes a few... I have yet to figure out why I pick any of them.

This is one that piqued my curiosity on Sunday:

Battling Superstition, Indian Paid With His Life

It is the story of a doctor in India who struggled against the superstitions and charlatans that he felt hurt the people of India. It is uplifting and unsettling at the same time. The story implies, strongly, that his killers were sent by hardline believers... fundamentalists, if you will... of the Hindu faith. It even goes so far as to imply one group was behind the doctor's murder.

Oh, and pay close attention to the picture at the beginning of the story.

But, as I read the article, another thought came to me. To fully understand that thought, you have to understand what I call The Law of Unintended Consequences and be willing to accept that things may not always be as they appear.

Let me lay out my case:

1. His home state, Maharashtra, was considering legislation he had promoted for 14 years, banning a list of practices like animal sacrifice, the magical treatment of snake bites and the sale of magic stones.

2. Recently, Dr. Dabholkar had focused much of his energy on the anti-black magic bill, and he was frustrated that politicians were slow to embrace it.

3. In the rush of emotion that followed Dr. Dabholkar’s death, the state’s governor on Saturday signed the so-called anti-black magic bill into force as an ordinance.

It would seem to me that forces who wanted the bill passed are the most suspect in the killing of the doctor. They had the most to gain. The bill was stalled, it was being weakened in order to gain support, and seemed to be headed for defeat or political oblivion. Why, then, would those opposed to it do something that any good student of politics should realize  would infuse it with life and meaning? And why do it in a secular way? That is, why hire a couple of thugs to shoot him rather than devise a method that might appear to be a vengeance from the spirit world?