DUBAI (AlArabiya.net)
Muslims and Hindus in a remote Indian village have come under fire for an ancient tradition – throwing their infant babies off the roof of a shrine, recent press reports said.
According to the 500-year-old Indian tradition, naked babies are thrown backwards from a height of 50 feet (15 meters) onto a stretched canvas sheet held by a group of devotees waiting below, a CNN TV report showed on Sunday.
The baby bounces off the sheet and is caught by one of the devotees before being passed around to much cheer and jubilation from the catchers, in front of a large crowd of villagers, including the mothers.
The age-old tradition is practiced at the Baba Sheikh Umar Saheb Dargah in Solapur, Maharashtra, and Muslims come from miles for the annual event.
The baby-throwing gesture is meant to thank God for the arrival of a baby for couples who took a vow at the shrine, CNN reported. The villagers also say it is good for the health of the child.
“People have been following this tradition for almost 500 years now. They believe that if they throw the child from the roof then it does good to him or her,” Ravikiran Mehta, an official from Musti village in Solapur, told CNN.
There has been no recorded evidence of any physical disability to the infants, he added.
But critics want the practice to be stopped.
“Such bizarre rituals should be banned and the state government should intervene," the president of the group Rationalist International told CNN. "Such practices are a challenge to our sensibilities and the basic concept of common well-being,” Sanal Edamaruku said.
Hindu families in other parts of the country also take part in the ritual, Denmark's Ekstrabladet newspaper reported.
Indian government officials have chosen not to interfere in the tradition and provide heavy police security during the event each year, CNN said. |
