Much ado about poppets

Monday 2nd November, 2026 In a tense political climate, the Opposition is reaching out to various sources to rein in the JVP-led government, which has been aggressively advancing its agenda. While the Opposition is pleading with Colombo-based foreign diplomats to apply pressure on the government to reverse course, some Opposition activists are resorting to supernatural measures in a bid to invoke divine retribution against government leaders.

Protesters have been engaging in occult practices, such as chanting curse poems, performing devil dances, and participating in effigy magic, as part of their anti-government campaign. Government supporters, on the other hand, have attempted to counteract the potential negative effects of curses and hexes, while JVP/NPP leaders have publicly dismissed the Opposition's use of occult rituals.

In a speech at the National Intellectuals’ Organisation in Colombo, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake mocked his political opponents for turning to black magic as a desperate attempt to settle their scores with him and his government. Dissanayake questioned whether curses cast through poppet magic could ever harm him, yet he emphasized that such occult practices revealed an evil and dangerous mindset.

The phenomenon of people turning to occult rituals for retribution is not new to Sri Lanka. In an exploration of this subject, Prof. Gananath Obeyesekere delved into his seminal work on the "canalization of aggression." Those who resort to such practices may be struggling with a lack of faith in or access to formal legal and judicial processes.

The JVP, which is the leading force in the ruling NPP, is described as a Marxist group that publicly rejects superstition and supernatural explanations, instead subscribing to materialism. Marxists criticize superstition, idolatry, and supernatural explanations as ways of degrading humanity. In a critical analysis of Marx's views, it is noted that he believed religion to be a manifestation of social conditions and referred to it as the "opium of the people."

Some historians have pointed out the paradox of Communist regimes publicly opposing religion and superstition while privately tolerating or even utilizing supernatural beliefs for political gain, as seen in Soviet and Chinese communism. This argument is backed by researchers such as Stephen A. Smith of Oxford University, Péter Krasztev, and Veneta T. Ivanova.

The debate surrounding occult rituals and the malicious intentions behind them evokes memories of a grim chapter in Sri Lanka's recent past. When compared to the atrocities committed during the second JVP uprising in the late 1980s – where counterterror operatives subjected thousands of people to torture and brutal murder, and even drove nails into their victims' skulls – the acts of pin-sticking and maledictions pale in comparison.