A four-year-old girl lies critically injured in a hospital in Gujranwala. According to police, her own mother and siblings set her on fire during what they believed was an exorcism, convinced that she was possessed by a jinn or affected by black magic. Sadly, it is not an isolated tragedy. It is the predictable consequence of a society that has steadily allowed superstition to displace science, reason and education.

Every society carries folklore, myths and religious traditions. They are part of its cultural fabric. The danger begins when superstition ceases to be folklore and starts dictating decisions about health, justice and human life. When fear triumphs over evidence, children become victims, the sick are denied medical care, and vulnerable people are branded as possessed instead of being treated with compassion.

Over the past several decades, the country has invested far less in nurturing scientific temper than in amplifying irrational beliefs. Our schools prepare students to memorise rather than question. Public discourse increasingly rewards........

© The Express Tribune