A Postcard: Need robust coordination between probe teams in Dabholkar, Pansare murder cases

Though many of us were aware of the episodes of violence against free thinkers in Bangladesh and Pakistan, we never thought such incidences can occur in our so-called progressive Maharashtra too.

Mumbai | Updated: January 11, 2016 02:08 AM IST

5 min read

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Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis

I write this letter to you with deep anguish. On December 20, twenty eight months were completed to the brutal murder of Dr Narendra Dabholkar. Sadly, there is hardly any progress in the investigation. Though many of us were aware of the episodes of violence against free thinkers in Bangladesh and Pakistan, we never thought such incidences can occur in our so-called progressive Maharashtra too.

If you remember sir, when Dr Narendra Dabholkar was gunned down in the bright daylight in Pune, you had demanded resignation of the then chief minister, Prithviraj Chavhan, as an Opposition leader. Now, after 10 months of Comrade Govind Pansare’s murder, with minimal progress in investigation, as citizens of this state we would like to know whether you evaluate your own performance with the same yardstick or not.

The only silver lining to the black cloud is the arrest of Sameer Gaikwad by the special investigation team. But sadly, that too coincidentally happened after we filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court about the delay in investigation and the court started supervising the case. As a family, we were expecting that the investigation in the Pansare murder case and subsequently the Dabholkar case will get a boost due to this arrest and proper actions will be taken against the organisations supporting this kind of violent acts. None of this has happened in the last three months. Though a chargesheet has been filed against Sameer Gaikwad, no major progress has happened in obtaining the weapon used in crime, nabbing other partners and the mastermind behind the conspiracy. The worst thing is that rather than tightening noose around these anti-constitutional outfits, many people who are part of the government and your party are openly supporting these tendencies. We can very well understand that there may not be enough evidence to ban these organisations but dealing with them with a firm hand is not a very difficult task. There is plenty of evidence available about the anti-constitutional nature of these organisations, but the home department is not taking any action in this regard and this is a matter of serious concern.

For the last 10 months, as family members, we have been trying our best to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi without any success. You have at least three times promised us to facilitate this meeting, but it’s very disappointing to share this in public that we are still waiting for an opportunity to meet Mr Modi. The feeling we have as a family is that the state government hardly has any concern about the investigation in the Dabholkar case since it was transferred to CBI or it may be secretly relieved that it does not have a direct responsibility in this regard. We do hope that you will prove us wrong by fast-tracking the investigation, bring the murderers and masterminds to justice by establishing robust coordination between the investigation teams in the Dabholkar and Pansare murder cases.

Before I end, I just want to share with you that the even after the brutal murder of Dr Dabholkar, the work of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti is continuing with the same vigour. We will definitely like to share our expectations from you in this regard. You will be pleased to know that in the last one year, more than 200 self-proclaimed godmen have been booked under the anti-black magic Act. One specific demand we have in this regard is about the framing of the state rules under the Act. Though more than two years have passed since this Act was passed in our state, there has been no any progress in drafting the rules under the Act. It will be the most important step for effective implementation of the Act if proper rules are finalised.

Another important demand that we have is fast-tracking of the process of bringing a bill on the issues of jaat panchyat and against social boycotts. I must admit that the government’s initiative to come up with the first draft of this bill and the step of inviting public suggestions to the draft is a welcome development, but we urge not to restrict the scope of this Act only to the issue of social boycott. The anti-constitutional mechanism of jaat panchayats should also be brought under the ambit of this Act.

Maharashtra’s social fabric is getting divided in the name of caste and religion and many outfits supporting violence have started getting social sanction. I hope by nabbing the murderers of Dr Dabholkar and Comrade Pansare, Maharashtra under your leadership will start taking corrective actions to reclaim our status of a progressive state.

Dr Hamid Dabholkar, secretary of the Maharashtra Andha-shraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, is the son of rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar whose dogged pursuance for an anti-black magic Act and subsequent murder led to Maharashtra becoming the first state in the country to enact an anti-superstition Act

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