Astrology a proven science, government can't ban it, says Karnataka minister R Ashoka

BENGALURU: Revenue minister R Ashoka on Friday called astrology a "proven science", stressing that this is reason the state government cannot ban it under the new anti-superstition law, which came into force this month.
Some scientific thinkers and rationalists had said that the government should have included astrology in the ambit of the Karnataka Prevention and Eradication of Inhuman Evil Practices and Black Magic Act.
Ashoka defended the government's decision: "Under no circumstances will we ban astrology. It has been proved that it is a science."
But the minister clarified that the government would not allow suspect astrologers who, through their advice, encouraged superstitious actions to have a free run. "The government will not allow fake astrology that leads to superstition," he said.
Ashoka took a swipe at politicians in the opposition, including JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda, his sons HD Kumaraswamy and HD Revanna, and DK Shivakumar of Congress, saying they won't be able to function if the government prohibited astrology.
"Most of the Congress and JD(S) politicians believe in astrology. Shivakumar had a yaga in Madhya Pradesh, and it's a known fact Gowda and Kumaraswamy strongly believe in astrology. If we ban astrology, where will they go?" Ashoka said.
He alleged the previous Congress government led by Siddaramaiah brought a bill which termed certain religious activities as superstition, hurting sentiments of the faithful. This is why BJP objected to it.
"But BJP is certainly opposed to superstition which is prevalent in the state," he said.
The new anti-superstition law was passed in the assembly in November 2017 but came into effect only on January 4 this year. Ashoka said the government was in the process of drawing up a final set of rules for the Act to be implemented.
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