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Eleven years after the murder of Narendra Dabholkar, his legacy lives on
Dabholkar has left a tremendous impact in the fight against superstitions, with the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti continuing his mission.
Eleven years after the murder of anti-superstition crusader and founder of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS) Narendra Dabholkar in Pune, a special court on Friday convicted shooters Sachin Prakashrao Andure and Sharad Bhausaheb Kalaskar and sentenced them to life imprisonment. The court acquitted three right-wing activists — Advocate Sanjiv Gajanan Punalekar, Vikram Vinay Bhave and the alleged mastermind Virendrasinh Sharadchandra Tawde — due to a lack of evidence.
The rationalist was shot by two bike-borne assailants while he was on a morning walk in Pune on August 20, 2013.
Pulling up the CBI and Pune police over their handling of the case, additional sessions judge PP Jadhav said, "The main mastermind behind the crime is someone else. Pune police as well as CBI have failed to unearth those masterminds. They have to introspect whether it is their failure or deliberate inaction on their part due to influence by any other person in power."
Following the judgement, Dabholkar’s son Hamid who has been spearheading his father’s rationalist movement across the state echoed similar views, saying, “The real masterminds behind his killing are still at large. It is a pre-planned conspiracy which led to the murders of other rationalists Govind Pansare, MM Kalburgi, and Gauri Lankesh and this revelation has come not from us but from agencies like Special Investigative Teams in Maharashtra and Karnataka, Anti Terrorism Squad and the CBI. In most of the cases of this type, it is seen that only pawns get caught and punished while the real perpetrators go scot-free,” he said.
The court’s comments on Andure and Kalaskar’s conviction
The evidence recorded by two eyewitnesses and an extra-judicial confession by one of the shooters proved critical in the conviction of Andure and Kalaskar. Earlier, the court, while taking stock of the evidence, dismissed the defence argument that the two eyewitnesses were planted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). “The two eyewitnesses were neither activists of Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, nor were they connected with its work and the deceased in any way. They are totally independent. This fact itself makes the evidence strong,” the judge said.
Initially, the Pune police were investigating the murder, but the case was later handed over to the CBI in June 2014 as per the directions of the Bombay high court.
One of the eyewitnesses, a sweeper with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), was sitting on the median near the Omkareshwar Bridge in Shaniwar Peth, after his early morning sweeping work when he heard the sound of shots being fired and saw two men firing at the victim. Another eyewitness was standing on the balcony of his flat, opposite the Shaniwar Peth police station, and saw the two shooters running towards the bike parked in front of the police station from the scene of the crime.
The CBI initially named two other individuals from Sanatan Sanstha – wanted in another blast case, as the alleged shooters. Around midnight on August 15, 2018, an Anti Terrorism Squad team was questioning Kalaskar, an accused arrested in its then ongoing investigation into a haul of arms and ammunition at Nalasopara, when he allegedly blurted out that he and his associate Sachin Andure had shot Dabholkar. This prompted CBI's interest in Andure and Kalaskar as suspects, and after much grilling and a reconstruction of the murder in Pune to ascertain their involvement, the investigation agency put the two in custody.
In his order, judge Jadhav noted that there was evidence of motive for the murder against Tawde and reasonable suspicion against Punalekar and Bhave regarding involvement in the crime. However, the prosecution failed to convert motive and suspicion into evidence, according to the court’s order. As for Andure and Kalaskar, it was proved beyond reasonable doubt that they shot Dabholkar dead in Pune city on August 20, 2013, the court said.
The prosecution also failed to prove the offences under section 16 (punishment for terrorist act) of the UAPA and section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC against any of the accused, it said. Except for ideological differences, Andure and Kalaskar had no personal enmity or rivalry with Dabholkar, the court noted.
Commenting on the failure of the Pune police and the CBI to pinpoint the mastermind behind Dabholkar’s murder, the court, in its order, said, "The murder was committed with a very well-prepared plan, executed by Andure and Kalaskar. Considering the economic and social status of both convicts, they are not the masterminds. The mastermind is someone else. Pune police, as well as CBI, have failed to unearth those masterminds. They have to introspect whether it is their failure or deliberate inaction on their part due to influence by any person in power.”
After the verdict was announced, the Sanatan Sanstha disassociated itself from Andure and Kalaskar, saying they had never been involved with the organisation. The group admitted Bhave was a member, and claimed that Tawade belonged to another right-wing organisation called Hindu Janajagruti Samiti. Punalekar is an advocate who takes up cases of Hindutva activists.
Mukta Dabholkar said “ Since it was ideological murder and till the ideology is alive, the fight against it will continue. Some battles are to be fought beyond win or loss as there are in the larger interests of societal emancipation and empowerment,” he said.
Dabholkar’s legacy
After Dabholkar’s killing, the state legislature passed The Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013. Maharashtra was the first state to enact such a law. In Karnataka, a similar act was passed in 2017.
According to MANS activists, efforts are underway to pass such a law at the national level. Dabholkar’s organisation has been at the forefront of warning people about the dangers of superstitions. Sustained efforts are being undertaken to eradicate superstitious beliefs by staging theatre performances under the guidance of renowned Marathi theatre director Atul Pethe.
Over five hundred theatre performances have been conducted in the last seven years on the subject of eradication and elimination of superstitious beliefs, MANS activists say.
After his death, the rationalist organisation claims that Pune’s illustrious Ganpati mandals have adopted environment-friendly idols and immersion processions. Thousands of residents have opted for environment-friendly Ganesha installations and simple immersion processions in line with the thoughts of the late rationalist crusader. Programmes like cracker-free Diwali and donating chapati during the Holi festival are now widely accepted practices.
MANS, a registered organisation in Satara, Maharashtra, currently has 310 branches located in rural and urban Maharashtra, Belgaum in Karnataka and Goa. According to Dabholkar, the organisation is for anyone who passionately feels that society should be freed from the shackles of obscurantism and blind beliefs.
Dabholkar's thoughts which were earlier limited to Marathi, are now available in Hindi, English and other languages. All over the country, scientific organisations celebrate August 20 as National Scientific Temper Day.
Avinash Patil, state president of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti said that the MANS is completely unhappy with the court verdict. From the verdict, it looks clear that the investigative agencies did not reach up to the mastermind. The investigating agency failed to collect evidence and bent itself before the political establishment. Due to this, the conspirators have been left scot-free. We will take a future course of action after studying the order in detail. In the future we will put forth our views both in the court and the citizen's court,” he said.
