HYDERABAD, July 22: Parents buried paralysed children up to their necks in a muddy riverbed on Wednesday, believing that an eclipse of the sun would allow them to walk. According to superstition the solar eclipse offers special treatment to people suffering from a variety of ailments.
Two paralysed girls and a boy were buried up to their heads into the Indus River bank near here for 90 minutes.
“Whenever there’s a solar eclipse, I try to help heal suffering humanity,” said Arif Shah, a ‘spiritual healer’.
“Allah bestows powers in the paralysed parts of handicapped people during an eclipse and certainly heals them,” he claimed.
Nadeem, the father of four-year-old Palwasha whose left side is paralysed, said he had great hopes that his daughter’s health would improve.
“I don’t mind if she doesn’t recover fully but if it helps her recover to a certain extent, it will be enough to make us happy,” he said.
“Our society believes in myths. Such methods are all based on myths and have nothing to do with medical science,” said psychiatrist Syed Ali Wasif.
The longest solar eclipse of the 21st century plunged millions across Asia into temporary darkness on Wednesday, triggering scenes of religious fervour, fear and excitement particularly in India and China.
Source: Pakistan Dawn
Thinking about ethics and current events (Began 1 April 2008)
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