15,000 postcards sent to President: ‘When will we know who killed Dr Dabholkar?’

“The cards, written in the sender’s own handwriting, in Hindi or English, only ask one question – ‘Dear President, when will we know who killed Dr Dabholkar?’,” said Hamid Dabholkar, son of slain rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, who was shot in the city on August 20, 2013.

Members of MANS said that at least 1000 such letters were sent by participants of the three-day convention of rationalists held in the city last week. Among those who signed the letter are CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yechuri, actors Nana Patekar and Sonali Kulkarni, astrophysicist Jayant Naralikar and Uma Pansare (wife of slain communist leader Govind Pansare).

Hamid Dabholkar said that wellwishers, associates and family members were disappointed and demoralised by the lack of progress in the investigation in the case. “It has been two years since the murder and over a year since the probe was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation. However, there has been not an iota of progress in the case. We keep calling the investigation office and we have to listen to the same reasons every time. During this period, we have also been exposed to the apathy of the investigation agency and the government. Despite our repeated requests to the Union home minister, he has failed to pass any directives to the CBI. We have tried, but the Prime Minister has refused to talk to us or even meet us once. In such a scenario, we did not have any option but to approach the constitutional head of the country,” said Hamid.

He said that the campaign would go on for a month and more people would be requested to send postcards to the President.

Keshari Chidar, a retired BSNL employee and one of the participants at the convention who sent the postcard, said, “There could only be two reasons for the neglect the government is showing towards the investigation. One, they are not interested in getting to the bottom of this crime, or they are supporting the fundamentalist forces who are involved in the crime. Hence, it’s important for us to put democratic pressure on the government to do it’s duty.”