Not just a case of shoot and run

The conspiracy in the Dabholkar murder needs to be unearthed and masterminds punishe

A special court in Pune convicted two men for the 2013 murder of Narendra Dabholkar, a physician and rationalist, who campaigned against religious superstitions, Friday. The court, however, acquitted three others, including Sharadchandra Tawade, who CBI named as the “main conspirator”, for want of evidence. The family of Dabholkar has said they will appeal against the acquittals. The probe alleged that all five persons were linked to Santan Sanstha, a Hindutva outfit, though the latter has claimed that the convicts were “Hindutva activists” but have never been involved with the organisation. The CBI chargesheet linked Tawade, an ENT surgeon, to the Sanstha and Hindu Janajagruti Samiti.

Narendra Dabholkar, founder of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (MANS), dedicated his life for eradication of social evils, religious superstition and caste system (HT FILE)

The acquittals are disturbing for multiple reasons. The court has come down heavily on CBI for shoddy investigation and accused the officer of “negligence” while invoking UAPA provisions in the case. It held that “there was a lot of scope for suspicion” against Tawade, but the prosecution “failed to provide evidence for it”. The Dabholkar murder was reportedly the first in a series of high-profile killings of Left-leaning, anti-Hindutva activists and writers over four years: from Kolhapur-based Communist Party of India leader and former MLA, Govind Pansare in February 201 to Dharward-based Lingayat scholar and former vice-chancellor of Hampi University MM Kalburgi in August 2015, and editor of Lankesh Patrika, Gowri Lankesh in Bengaluru in September, 2017. Uma Pansare, Govind Pansare’s wife, was with him when he was shot but survived with a bullet injury. Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar, convicted for shooting Dabholkar, as well as Tawade, are accused in the Pansare case. Kalaskar is also an accused in the Gauri Lankesh murder.

The cases have been mired in politics and the political churn in Maharashtra and Karnataka has cast their shadow on the investigation, arrests, framing of the chargesheets, and the pace of the trials. Investigators have spoken about a conspiracy that links these high-profile killings. These killings need to be seen as political murders aimed at throttling free speech and creating a climate of fear against the independent pursuit of rational and scientific knowledge. For instance, Dabholkar and the organisation he headed, the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, were in the bad books of Right-wing outfits because they championed the 2005 Maharashtra Anti-Superstition Bill, which the latter felt targeted Hindu traditions and practices. The shooters, it appears, are low-level functionaries brainwashed and turned into assassins by the masterminds, who are operating in the shadows. A closure in these murders is possible only when the conspirators too are nabbed and punished.