Not even the book, in fact. Just the title: Shivaji Kon Hota? (शिवाजी कोण होता?). This is in Marathi. The English translation is Who was Shivaji?

Now, who’d have a problem with this title, right?

Wrong.

Because those whose sense of self worth and identity is as fragile as it is testosterone-driven, feel offended all too quickly. In this case, by the use of the ‘ekeri’ for Shivaji.

Let me explain. Unlike in English, in Marathi we have three forms of address:

• the ekeri (एकेरी) or informal singular (for example, tu / तू), used with close friends, younger people, children, those lower in the social hierarchy, some relations (such as siblings, cousins, mother, grandmothers, grandaunts, uncles and aunts);
• the anekeri (अनेकेरी) or respectful singular or plural (tumhi / तुम्ही), used with elders, strangers, in formal situations, those higher in the social hierarchy, some relations (father, grandfathers and granduncles)
• the aapani prayog (आपणी प्रयोग) or respectful singular or inclusive plural (aapan / आपण), which is both ‘you’ in a highly formal context or ‘we’, which includes both the speaker and the listner.

Now, Shivaji Kon Kota? uses the ekeri or informal singular, and a man claiming to be Sanjay Gaikwad, member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from Buldhana rang up Mr Prashant Ambi, an activist, at 12:52 AM on April 22, 2026, and issued a threat to his life. Mr Gaikwad represents the Shiv Sena (the Eknath Shinde-led party). Not only did he use filthy language and abuses on the call, he also reminded Mr Ambi of the fate of the author of the book, in effect issuing a death threat.

The author of Shivaji Kon Hota? is Govind Pansare, a towering personality in Maharashtra. He was a leader of the Communist Party of India, a public intellectual, rationalist and trade unionist. On February 16, 2015, he and his wife were shot at when they were returning from a morning walk in Kolhapur, where they lived. His wife survived, but Pansare succumbed to his injuries on Feburary 20. He was 81. His biography of Shivaji has run into numerous editions and sold hundreds of thousands of copies since its first publication in 1988.

The assassination of Govind Pansare bore striking similarities to the killing of Dr Narendra Dabholkar in Pune in 2013. A Hindu extremist organisation, Sanathan Santha, was suspected to have been behind both assassinations. Unsurprisingly, with the right wing in power at both state and centre, the investigative agencies have not been able to nail the killers.

Mr Prashant Ambi is an activist who prints and sells inexpensive copies of Pansare’s Shivaji Kon Hota? He had the presence of mind to record the conversation and the courage to make it public. You can listen to the conversation (in Marathi) here:

In this time of easy rage-baiting on social media, it is perhaps too much to expect Mr Gaikwad to have actually read the book which he claimed to have insulted his icon. But the question is still worth asking: Why did Pansare use the informal singular for Shivaji? Why did he call him simply ‘Shivaji’, rather than ‘Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’?

Since Pansare is no longer around to answer this, we can only speculate. I can think of two reasons.

One, as I said above, in Marathi, one of the uses of the informal singular is for people we are intimately close to, like our mother. The use of the informal singular is, in such cases, not an expression of disrespect, but its opposite – an expression of deep affection and respect that does not stand on ceremony. Strikingly, the bhakti-era poets of Maharashtra, such as Tukaram, use the informal singular when addressing the diety Vitthal (Vishnu in his Krishna avatar), who they endearingly call ‘Vithoba’.

Two, Pansare, though trained as a lawyer, was a genuinely good historian. He looked at his subject without blinkers, as a rationalist, on the basis of historical evidence.

Soon after Pansare’s murder, we at LeftWord Books decided to bring out an English edition of the book. Translated by Uday Narkar, the book has an Introduction by historian Anirudh Deshpande (no relation of mine) and an Afterword by economist Prabhat Patnaik. Without a doubt, Who was Shivaji? is a masterpiece of popular history writing. We published the book for its secular and rationalist telling of the life of one of the great figures of Indian medieval history, of course, but also as a tribute to its slain author, a man of immense humanity, empathy, courage and perseverance, a towering public intellectual, a comarde deeply loved by workers, and all those who believe in a humane future for all.

Of Pansare’s book, Anirudh Deshpande writes: “Shivaji Kon Hota? questions the way in which dominant Maratha historiography has enforced modern, i.e., colonial and post-colonial, religious categories on a past where people lived and did things differently compared with the age of modernity. Readers will not fail to notice the ease and humility with which the late Govind Pansare has raised and answered these questions. He does not claim originality, but only the ability to rationally re-interpret the facts of Shivaji’s career, for facts do exist — despite the claims of contemporary intellectual fashion to the contrary. Shivaji Kon Hota? shows how, with the help of reason, anyone can interrogate the past. We need not be scientists and historians to discover and understand ourselves by questioning the familiar tropes of history.”

I am happy to share a free PDF of Govind Pansare’s short biography of Shivaji:

If you’d like to have a hard copy, you can purchase it from the LeftWord website here.

Postscript. Please share this post if you can – to spread the word about the criminal intimidation by a person who is supposed to be a people’s representative, and to share Comrade Pansare’s immensely popular and readable book.

Courtesy: https://sudu26.substack.com/

The post Who was Shivaji? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Through the letter, a link between the killings of these four people, activist and journalists actively working to counter Hindutva extremism, was pointed out in the letter. “We would like to draw your attention to the five chargesheets filed in the case of Comrade Pansare. Twelve persons have been arrayed as accused. Two of the twelve accused have been declared absconding. All the accused are members of Sanatan Sanstha and/or Hindu Janjagruti Samiti and some of the accused are also named in the murder cases of Dr. Narendra Dabholkar, Prof. M.M. Kalburgi and Ms. Gauri Lankesh and Nalasopara Weapons Seizure Case, and other related cases, which proves that there exists a common link. The list of all accused along with the references being members of Sanatan Sanstha and their involvement is reflected in the chargesheets itself.” (Para 4)

The family claimed that the ATS and other agencies like CBI, Maharashtra Police, Karnataka Police and Goa Police are fully aware of the role of that Sanatan Sanstha and its ‘sadhaks’ played in the four murders and other heinous crimes.

“However, for reasons best known to the investigating agencies, this angle has not been examined. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the role of ‘Sanatan Sanstha’ and the people governing Sanatan Sanstha, as an organised terrorist network of criminals, acting under the guidance and directions of Mr. Jayant Athavale and Mr. Virendra Marathe.” (Para 6)

The letter goes on to highlight certain instances which elaborate on the organised network of Sanatan Sanstha and the masterminds. These instances involved offenses of organised crimes, possession of arms, usage of drugs and psychiatric medicines, funding and financing terror activities, and arms and weapon training. 

“The details of the training sessions held by members of Sanatan Sanstha have been placed on record, although no investigation can be witnessed to identify the masterminds. Although, no investigation can be witnessed with respect to the organised movement of all the accused and the manner in which the accused have been provided with resources. On the face of the record, it is crystal clear that such activities cannot be generated by Dr. Virendra Tawade alone. This further proves that the masterminds are still at large and have not been brought before the investigation.”

“We are drawing your attention to the organized movement of the accused to track intellectuals in different places across the country and to provide shelter to the youth to carry out arms training sessions. It is revealed that the accused were provided with homes at Jalna, Nalasopara, Pune, Satara, Belgaavi, etc. and each accused was assigned a different location to carry out arms training session, namely, Chikhale, Belgaavi, Karnataka, Pokal, Vadgaav, Jalna, Mulkhed, Mulshi, Pune, etc. It is surprising that while all the information and facts set out in the present representation are already on record, it appears that ATS has failed to consider the same while investigating the present case of Comrade Pansare.”

“On bare perusal of the chargesheet filed by ATS in the Nalasopara case, it has been categorically recorded that the objective of Sanatan Sanstha and its members is to terrorize the society at large and carry out terrorist activities, motivated by Kshatradharma Sadhna,” the letter further claimed. 

In regards to the Nalasopara explosives seizure case, the letter provided that a large numbers of pistols, bombs and explosives were seized by Maharashtra ATS in 2018 and a chargesheet was filed on February 18, 2019, against twelve persons, who are members of Sanatan Sanstha and/or Hindu Janjagruti Samiti.

“….facts and circumstances produced state that there exists a larger conspiracy and involvement of masterminds beyond the arrayed accused. The investigating agency ought to have examined the office bearers of Sanatan Sanstha whose involvement in larger conspiracy cannot be ruled out. From the use of psychiatric drugs on its members without their consent to planning and executing murders and bomb-blasts, it cannot be said that these conspiracies are possible with involvement of only members of Sanatan Sanstha.” (Para 7)

Emphasising upon the severity of these crimes, the letter urged the authorities to examine the role of Sanatan Sanstha and the people governing it as an “organised terrorist network of criminals acting under the guidance and directions” of Jayant Athavale and Virendra Marathe. 

Bringing us back to the violent ideologies preached by the Sanstha as well as the painting of the ones killed as “anti-Hindus”, the letter provided how the convicts and other accused are acting on the ideology propositioned and nurtured by Sanatan Sanstha and its founders and/or leaders such as Mr. Jayant Athavale, Mr. Virendra Marathe, and others. 

“Comrade Pansare was bitterly opposed by right-wing Hindutva organisations such as Sanatan Sanstha, Hindu Janjagruti Samiti, etc, for his ideologies of secularism, rationality, equality, and lifelong work of uplifting the marginalised and authoring books like Shivaji Kon Hota?,” the letter stated. (Para 10)

Based on the submissions made, allegations raised and material provided, the Pansare family demanded that ‘necessary steps’ must be taken against Sanatan Sanstha founder Dr Jayant Athavale, its leader Virendra Marathe and others for their alleged role in Pansare murder case. 

“It is evident from the observations produced hereinabove and findings produced that Sanatan Sanstha, and its leaders are the true master minds of the murder of Dr. Dabholkar and also Comrade Pansare. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate and unravel the conspiracy hatched by Sanatan Sanstha and its leaders, which CBI failed in case of Dr. Dabholkar. You will appreciate that there exists a common sophisticated network of organised criminals / organised crime syndicate of Sanatan Sanstha behind the four murders. It is not a mere coincidence that the members of Sanatan Sanstha have been and are being accused / convicted in ghastly crimes since more than a decade.” (Para 11)

Notably, the Bombay high court will be hearing the matter on July 12.

Brief Background:

Comrade Govind Pansare, a rationalist, trade unionist, social activist and leader of Communist Party of India along with his wife, Uma were attacked by two youths on a motor-cycle on 16 February, 2015, near his home in Kolhapur. He died four days later on 20 February, 2015, at the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai. Initially, the case was being probed by a special team of the state CID, which had arrested 12 people. The trial against them is ongoing. However, in 2022, the case was transferred to the state Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) after the activist’s family said the CID had not nabbed the conspirators of the crime. Since then, the ATS has been submitting periodic probe reports to the court in sealed covers.

Dr Narendra Dabholkar was a rationalist and anti-superstition activist, who was the founder of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS). He was shot dead on 20 June, 2013, by two unidentified gunmen near Omkareshwar temple in Pune.  

Prof Malleshappa Madivalappa Kalburgi, a noted scholar and writer, had run-ins with right-wing Hindutva groups for many years. He was shot dead on 30 August, 2015, by unidentified gunman at the former’s residence in Kalyan Nagar locality of Dharwad. 

Gauri Lankesh, journalist-turned-activist was shot dead outside her residence in Bengaluru on 5 September, 2017. She worked as an editor in Lankesh Patrike, a Kannada weekly started by her father P Lankesh, and ran her own weekly called Gauri Lankesh Patrike.

Related:

Gauri Lankesh assassination: 6 years down, no closure for family and friends, justice elusive

Gauri Lankesh Assassination: Accused denied bail by Aurangabad HC

Gauri Lankesh case: Why is the Defence harping on alleged “Naxalite connections”, family fued?

The post Family members of murdered leader Govind Pansare write to Maha ATS, emphasise the need to investigating role of Sanathan Sanstha in killing intellectuals appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The trial into the murder of rationalist-activist and CPI member Govind Pansare has not started eight years after he was shot five times by two unidentified men on February 16, 2015. He died of his wounds four days later on February 20.

“It is very important for the guilty to be punished as violence has increased in society,” Pansare’s daughter-in-law and social activist Megha Pansare told The Hindu.

Pansare’s most important book Who was Shivaji countered the propaganda of right-wing groups that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was anti-Muslim.

In January, Maharashtra Special Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) Judge SS Tambe framed charges against 10 persons who are members of Sanatan Sanstha, according to PTI.

The 10 accused are Sameer Gaikwad, Virendra Sinh Tawde, Amol Kale, Vasudev Suryawanshi, Bharat Kurane, Amit Degvekar, Sharad Kalaskar, Sachin Andure, Amit Baddi and Ganesh Miskin. Two more accused Vinay Pawar and Sarang Akolkar, the alleged shooters, are absconding.

Tawde, also accused in the Narendra Dabholkar murder case, and Gaikwad, are out on bail while Andure, Baddi, Suryawanshi, Kurane, Degvekar, Kalaskar, Kale and Miskin are in jail. Kale and Degwekar are also accused in the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh.

According to special public prosecutor Shivajirao Rane, the charges were framed under Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act.

The judge also asked the prosecution to produce the list of witnesses and documents from investigating agencies, The Times of India reported.

Last August, the Bombay High Court (HC) had transferred the investigation to the ATS from a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Maharashtra Criminal Investigation Department  more than seven years after the murder after allowing the application filed by Pansare’s family, PTI had reported.

Special public prosecutor Harshad Nimbalkar told The Hindu that the “recording of the evidence will begin soon. We will begin the trial, and the investigation by the ATS will be carried out simultaneously”.

Advocate Abhay Nevgi, appearing for the Pansare family in court, said, “Handing over of the investigation to the ATS is a positive step in the case and I am hopeful that the agency will arrest the absconding shooters for the trial to begin in a month.”

The family, however, is “not satisfied with the pace of the case as the trial has still not begun”. “We were expecting now that charges are framed against the accused, the trial will begin. However, the pace is very slow. Now that the investigation in the case has been shifted to the ATS, we expect it to be expedited, and that the agency reaches the mastermind and those who are absconding,” Megha said.

“We hope that the leads by ATS will be incorporated in the chargesheet as the case is being monitored by the High Court,” she added.

According to Megha, the forces and the organisations accused in the case “have become very strong and aggressive, and violence has increased in society. So, it is very important to punish these people because there is no other way to control them”.

Even the HC had observed that “by the methodology adopted, the absconding accused are not going to be arrested for years together”, Nevgi wrote in a column published in The Wire on Monday.

According to Nevgi, the slow progress in the case compelled the HC to say: “It is time that we impress upon the ministries and particularly of ministry of external affairs and home that investigations of crime and as serious as the one highlighted in our earlier orders would serve a larger public purpose that would ensure building up the confidence not only of the police and investigating machinery in India but would send right message across the world that no crime will go unpunished in this country.”

Courtesy: Newsclick

The post No Trial 8 Years After Govind Pansare’s Murder appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The daughter of 82-year-old slain communist leader Govind Pansare has filed an application to the Bombay High Court seeking to transfer her father’s murder investigation to the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) from the State Special Investigation Team (SIT) to find the real mastermind behind the murder, reported LiveLaw.

On July 7, the Bombay High Court bench led by Justice Revati Mohite Dere sought the State of Maharashtra’s response to the said application.

In the application, the daughter submitted that nearly seven years after her father was gunned down on his morning walk, the SIT failed to make any clinching breakthrough in the case. She further stated that the Maharashtra ATS had drawn a connection between the murders of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, Professor Kalburgi Pansare and Gauri Lankesh, while investigating the 2019 Nalasopara Arms Case of 2019.

The plea reportedly states, “If immediate steps are not taken, the investigation to bring absconding accused may not happen. To identify the masterminds as well as shooters of Comrade Govind Pansare, Cri Case may be transferred from the respondent SIT to Maharashtra ATS with immediate effect.”

The petition states that despite having filed five different chargesheets by different investigating agencies to probe the murders, no efforts are made by any of them to reach out the masterminds behind all the five cases.

Meanwhile the court also allowed a change in the constitution of the SIT currently probing the case, as three officers have retired, one died and the investigating officer was also due for promotion. The court said that the new investigating officer must be appointed in 4 weeks, reported Live Law.

As of date, the State Government has provided protection to the people in the hitlist and 40 intellectuals along with the petitioner have been provided with the security. “The combined reading of all 5 Chargesheets and specific reading of Chargesheet in the case of Nalasopara Bomb Blast case, it becomes clear that there exists a deeper and larger conspiracy and masterminds behind all the 5 cases are not traced.”

Background

On February 16, 2015, Govind Pansare, a public intellectual and political academic-activist was shot in cold blood while on a morning walk with his wife, who also sustained serious injuries but survived. Govind Pansare succumbed to his injuries four days later, on February 20, 2015. Two years before this shooting, in August 2013, rationalist and anti-superstition activist, Narendra Dabholkar was shot dead in Pune while he was also out for a morning walk. Both these killings took place in Maharashtra. Finally, again on August 30, 2015, the former Vice Chancellor of the Hampi University and scholar MM Kalburgi was also shot dead by a man who knocked at his door, in Dharwad, Karnataka. Then in 2017 journalist Gauri Lankesh was gunned down outside her home in cold blood by two masked men on a motorcycle.

These killings have a chilling similarity. Serious questions about the role of the Sanatan Sanstha, an extreme Hindutva right wing, supremacist organisation have been raised, though denied vociferously by the organisation itself.

Related:

Silencing India’s Public Intellectuals: One Year after Govind Pansare was Shot
Gauri Lankesh case: Why is the Defence harping on alleged “Naxalite connections”, family fued?
‘Meticulous’ investigation yet little headway in Gauri Lankesh murder case

The post Govind Pansare’s daughter moves Bom HC seeking transfer of probe from SIT to Maharashtra ATS appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Special Investigation Team (SIT) have submitted before the Bombay High Court that they are ready to begin trials in the case of murders of rationalists Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar. However, the agencies submitted that the investigation into the larger conspiracy will continue. The Division bench of Justices SS Shinde and Manish Pitale said that the court will continue to monitor the probe, reported LiveLaw.

The court raised concern over the delay in investigation and said, “We will go to root of matter. We will not let any agency do this. If this is to happen in a modern state like Maharashtra, this court is definitely concerned,” reported LiveLaw. The counsel appearing for the families credited the intervention of the court for the progress made towards the trial. The families of both deceased, had filed petitions raising concerns over the delay in investigation in both cases.

Earlier this month, the Bombay High Court had pulled up the CBI and the state SIT for not completing their probe into the murders of communist leader, Govind Pansare and anti-superstition crusader Narendra Dabholkar. The court had asked the agencies to come with a positive statement for the next hearing. The counsel for the State SIT submitted the status report in a sealed envelope as owing to the sensitivity of the case not everything can be revealed, he said. He also informed the court that they are also ready to start the trial as 10 people have already been arrested for Pansare’s murder while two are still absconding.

During the last hearing, a Division Bench of Justices SS Shinde and Manish Pitale were apprised that the trial in journalist Gauri Lankesh’s murder in Karnataka in 2017 with similar accused persons, has already begun, but the investigation in Maharashtra is still not complete and hence, the bench sought status reports. The bench had remarked that the incidents occurred in 2013 (Dabholkar’s murder) and 2015 (Pansare’s murder) but the investigation is not complete. The counsel for the families of Dabholkar and Pansare had submitted that the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) found a link in all four cases and while the CBI had filed three charge sheets against the four accused in the Dabholkar case, the SIT has been dragging its feet in Pansare’s case.

The matter is scheduled for hearing on April 15.

Related:

Bombay HC disturbed at delay in Dabholkar-Pansare murder investigation

Narendra Dabholkar and his immortal ideas

The post Trial in Dabholkar and Pansare murders to begin; Bombay HC to monitor appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image Courtesy: PTI

Sharad Kalaskar, a Sanatan Sanstha (SS) sympathiser is now in the custody of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Maharashtra police that is investigating the assassination of communist leader Govind Pansare. Kalaskar is said to have destroyed the weapons used to shoot at Pansare and his wife. As Newsclick had reported earlier, Kalaskar has confided in the Karnataka Special Investigation Team (SIT) that Sanjeev Punalekar – the lawyer of Sanatan Sanstha (SS) – had called him to his office in June-July 2018. The lawyer is said to have asked Kalaskar to destroy the gun he used to allegedly murder Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare, M M Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh. Punalekar and his assistant Vikram Bhave have been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on May 25, 2019 related to the case of Dabholkar.

Kalaskar was earlier arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad in the infamous Nallsopara explosives hoarding case. An officer from the SIT probing the Pansare case told The Indian Express: “Kalaskar was taken into our custody from Mumbai, in the early hours of Tuesday and produced before the court in Kolhapur in the afternoon. The court has remanded him to our custody till June 18. He is the seventh person to be arrested and ninth person to have been named as accused in the case till now.” Kalaskar along with Sachin Andure allegedly assassinated, rationalist Dabholkar on August 30, 2013, according to the CBI that is investigating the case.

The investigations in both Pansare’s and Dabholkar’s cases have been very lethargic. In November 2018, the Mumbai High Court had questioned the CBI and the Maharashtra SIT for delaying the investigation into the murders of activists Dabholkar and Pansare. The investigative agency has been severely criticised by civil society groups both in Maharashtra and across the country for being extremely slow in its investigation. The High Court is now monitoring both the cases.

Investigation into Pansare’s case so far
One must note that there has been no real progress in the case. Pansare was attacked by two unidentified gunmen in Kolhapur, on February 16, 2015. He died on February 20. He was a member of the Communist Party of India and a supporter of Dabholkar’s movement. He was a vehement critic of Hindutva organisations. An SIT had implicated Virendra Tawde, Sarang Akolkar and Vinay Pawar – suspects in the Dabholkar murder case – in the Pansare case as well, in 2016. Here too, Tawade was named as a key conspirator, and Akolkar and Pawar were suspected of firing at Pansare. However Tawade was granted bail by the Kolhapur court in 2018; and both Akolkar and Pawar have been absconding since the Margao blast in 2009.

In its 400-page-long chargesheet, the SIT also had named Amol Kale, Vasudev Suryawanshi, Bharat Kurne and Amit Digwekar. However, both Kale and Digwekar are named in other cases too. Kale who was taken into custody by the Karnataka SIT in the case of  Lankesh is now known to be involved in planning all the four — Dabholkar, Pansare, M M Kalburgi and Lankesh — assassination and also recruiting people to execute the plan.

When Parashuram Waghmore, who was arrested on June 12, 2018, confessed to have shot at Lankesh to the SIT, a larger conspiracy had come to light. An unnamed SIT official had mentioned the existence of a gang of hardline Hindutva recruits functioning in five states: Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka. The same official is reported to have said that this “unnamed organisation/gang” comprises at least 60 people and has “recruited people from hardline Hindutva organisations like Maharashtra-based SS and HJS.” As investigations into these cases continued, it was in fact established that all those arrested were involved in all the four cases and were also members of SS and HJS.

It is the same set of men, being named in all the cases by three different investigative agencies but the shooters are different in each of the cases. However, the shooter in the case of  Pansare is still not been named. It is also important to note that, the arrests made so far do not go higher up the ranks of the hardline Hindutva organisations. Punalekar is the highest the investigative agencies have been able to reach. Why is this the case? We now know who are all the men involved in these assassinations, the reason and their affiliations. The question of who is the mastermind behind these assassinations, remains unanswered.
 
Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum

The post Is the Probe into Pansare’s Murder Just Skimming the Surface? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

While hearing the petitions filed by the family members of Dabholkar and Pansare, seeking court supervision into probes conducted by central and state agencies, a division bench of Justice S C Dharmadhikari and Justice B P Colabawalla said, “The government of Maharashtra must realise that when a crime of this nature was committed in the adjoining state, namely, in the state of Karnataka (murder of Gauri Lankesh), the functionaries and the officials in-charge of machinery of law and order in that state acted swiftly and without any intervention of the court.”

It went on to say that after the murder of journalist-turned-activist Gauri Lankesh, nobody had filed a petition in the court; instead the authorities suo-motu took action. Whereas here the family members had to plead to the court for its intervention.

Further expressing its displeasure over the laidback response by the state, the judges said that they do not want the Maharashtra government to expect court orders to investigate murders. “Bureaucrats at the helm of affairs have to show people how they deal with such attacks,” the bench directed.

The court has directed the chief secretary of the state to conduct meetings with the additional chief secretary, home, and principal secretary of finance along with Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Special Investigation Team (SIT) officers and decide what assistance should be provided to the investigating agencies in the probe. It further directed the state to provide ground-level assistance if the CBI proposes to carry out any major operation.

The CBI SIT is investigating the Dabholkar murder and the state CID is probing the Pansare murder. Last year, the CBI had claimed to have arrested two men who allegedly shot Dabholkar.
 

The court then expressed concern over the intervention of political parties in the rationalists’ murder probes and said, “All political parties, those who are in power now and in future, should ensure that no outfit or person involved in such attacks is spared.”

“No one should attempt to silence any voice of dissent. That should be our endeavour. We expect all political parties and their bosses to show maturity and not create obstacles in the investigation,” Justice Dharmadhikari said.

Even in March, the Maharashtra state had drawn flak from the Bombay HC in the Pansare murder case where it said that the state had become a ‘laughing stock’ after reading the SIT report. The bench said, “Let the state feel some pressure. It must face consequences some day. For most often, the police get away. No memos are issued, no explanations sought.”

Narendra Dabholkar, the founder of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, was murdered in 2013 for his work against the superstitious beliefs. Govind Pansare, a politician from the CPI, was known for his rationalism and for his book ‘Who was Shivaji’ which was an attempt against the appropriation of the Maratha king by right wing forces. He also ran an organisation that encouraged inter-caste marriages. He was killed in 2015.

The investigations have shown that the possibility of the same set of people having been involved in an attempt to silence the anti-Hindutva, rational and secular voices in the country through these assassinations is no longer a mere speculation.

Such barbaric and inhuman acts are an extreme way to kill the voices of those who dared to put forth their opinions and raise their voices against the injustice meted out on people in the name of religion and customs. It’s time that the authorities pull up their socks and get a hold of the anti-democratic forces plaguing our nation.

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As rationalists, we are long used to attacks from religious fundamentalists of all tinges, trades and callings! We were labelled as anti-Christians when we opposed the evangelical healers; anti-Muslims when we criticised people like Zakir Naik; and now the Hindutva brigade has set their evil eyes upon us. Be it the vicious trolling on web sites, physical attacks or murders,  there seems to be a diabolic method in this campaign of hate and contempt! For several years now, I have been on the alleged ‘hit list’ of such forces. Once I was joking with K.S.Bhagwan, who was allegedly on top of their hit list, that they would have to get him and five others before they could come for me since I was ranked 7 in the hit list. Bhagwan retorted and asked how I could be so sure that these people were noble enough to even follow the list! This was years ago,  the hate campaigns have only become more and more vicious ever since. Last month, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) for the Gauri Lankesh murder investigation submitted a list of people for whom security has to be provided and I was among the top four.

While I do not regret anything that I have said or not said, I do feel that some incidents need to be narrated. Last year, when I was on a jatha from Mangalore to North Karnataka, I got a call from a leading Kannada asking me to come to their studio for a panel discussion. I told them that I was not in Mangalore, so they arranged for my broadcast from Shivamogga, where I was to halt for the night. When the show started, the anchor grandly announced that he had decided to go on air despite it being a Sunday, due to a major incident needed to be discussed.I was wondering what this catastrophe could be,  when the anchor said that the then Chief minister Siddharamiaha had gone to the Dharmasthala Manjunatha temple after eating fish. While the topic for the panel discussion was bizarre in itself,  I soon realised that it was a ploy to get to me since the show started with me instead of Siddharamiaha! The anchor asked me to be grateful to the Hindus for letting me stay in India despite  being an atheist. I asked who made him the spokesman of the Hindu community and whether it was a self-appointed, elected post or had he been given the GPA by the Hindu community. I also reminded him that I was a citizen of India— a secular nation which came into existence through a constitution— and not a Hindu rashtra, to which he asked me to go to Saudi Arabia and proclaim that I am an atheist.  I asked him to go there instead and do a puja, which effectively shut him up. While this is just an example of the various discriminatory exchanges that we face every day, it reflects on the attitudes of those who feel that one’s freedom of expression should be guided by their sentiments.

This is also something that we we are increasingly seeing in the media as well. While there are extremists in other religions as well, it is the Hindutva brigade of the so-called majority religion, which is becoming a greater threat. They seem to have the patronage of the state since the ruling dispensation at the center tacitly encourages them and turns a blind eye to the menace they create.  There are people who demand shariat laws, there are Khap panchayats encouraged by local elected representatives who are seen as vote banks. 

At the receiving end of these threats however, are people like us who profess rational thinking and vocal expression. Many raised voices might have been silenced, but those that aren’t, are still fighting the battle. SIT’s recent investigations into the Gauri Lankesh murder unravelled a very chilling plot. The conspirators had amassed funds to eliminate the voices of reason and there was a long list of people who had been marked. The same team had also written to the Home department demanding enhanced security for me, Girish Karnad, K.S.Bhagwan, and Veerabhadra Chennamalla Swami of the Nidumamidi math.  Strangely enough, all four of us are Hindus going by their own definition of the same! These forces believe that we have been the most effective in countering their vicious propaganda of lies and manipulations; therefore they try to discredit us through their brazen lies and label us as naxalites and foreign funded. A so called Yogi Ashwini made the same allegation in a panel discussion that was held a few days ago. All this to suppress the voices of reason, not to forget their good old habit of tampering photographs and videos to spread lies.

Hundreds of lives have been lost courtesy to such propagandas. Almost thirty people died last month because of rumours of child lifting spread through various social media platforms. As the next general elections are approaching, the voices are becoming shriller, the propaganda more vicious, and efforts more concerted. The ruling party’s hollow promises are being called out and facing failures on all fronts, they seem to be getting more and more desperate. So, now the card to be played seems to be that of Hinduism in danger. Even though there are credible voices of reason which effectively counters their false propaganda and expose their lies within their own community, they are trying to silence us. Since threats do not work, they are now resorting to permanently silence these voices through a dedicated group of trained murderers.

While they might have succeeded in silencing some of the voices, there is no dearth of activists who have refused to be cowed down and will fight against these forces to make sure that the voices of reason are heard. 

Narendra Nayak is a notable rationalist from Mangalore. He is the president of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations, and the founder-secretary of the Dakshina Kannada Rationalist Association. He tours the country conducting workshops to promote scientific temper and showing people how to debunk godmen and frauds.

First Published on Indian Cultural Forum

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Translated by Ipsita Gauri and Anjaleena

Image Courtesy: Goan Observer

I
September 2015
Mukta Dabholkar and I left Bhupesh Gupta Hall Mumbai, after attending the meeting organised by members of the Comrade Govind Pansare Memorial Committee to protest against Dr Kalburgi’s murder. We were to spend the night at Mukta’s place. Some young members of ANIS (Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti) were accompanying us for a ride on the way. Drizzling rains and long wet roads with a long line of cars moving at a snail’s pace in the long winding traffic. The conversation flowed around the challenges of blind religious beliefs faced by ANIS and the strategies they will need to employ to combat them in the near future. Mukta was sharing her views and thoughts with them. Sometimes, when they posed a question to me, I shared my experiences.

We were to fly to Bangalore early next morning. There, we had an appointment with the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Shri Siddaramaiah, regarding the investigation into the murder of Dr Kalburgi. Shrivijay, Dr Kalburgi’s son, was to accompany us. There, some Kannada writers had also organised an open discussion and an interaction with the media. I had a very unclear picture of all these meetings and ambivalent feelings about the objectives they would meet. But, somewhere in my heart, I knew that these engagements were crucial.

We dropped off the last of the members accompanying us. Only two of us were left, Mukta and I. Some silence, a quiet moment. “Doesn’t it feel like we are living through a long terrifying nightmare?” Mukta asked. She was right — an unending nightmare!
 
II
16 February, 2015.
I had gone on my usual walk across Shivaji University. In the days before his death, Comrade and I would return together from our walks. On our way back, we would have interesting discussions on various topics. Sometimes, we would also meet his friends and colleagues like Prof J F Patil, Prof Sharad Navare, Prof Uday Narkar, students, and other party members. He would share his thoughts with them, ideas and strategies that he had been thinking of; or, he would delegate some work that needed to be done urgently. Long discussions would follow, one leading to another. We always got inevitably late while returning. The thought of my children, the cooking that needed to be done, and all the pending work at the university department would make me prod him to hurry home.

I remember, just a few days before this incident took place, we met Prof Sharad Navare on our way back. He shared his regret about how the Left Movement had neglected, in its endeavours, to explore the cultural platform. How, even today, we sing the same old songs of the movement, nothing new is created or written. He spoke passionately about how we need to connect to the present social milieu and effectively spread our progressive and contemporary thoughts through various mediums like poems, literature, songs, theatre, films, documentaries, etc.

In fact, a year before, we had had resumed IPTA’s work in Kolhapur. Along with Manjul Bharadwaj, we had arranged and conducted theatre workshops on “Theatre of Relevance”. Comrade had been truly happy that we were able to stage 20 shows of “Chedchad Ka?” (Why Eve teasing?). We were hoping to create a workshop on revolutionary music for IPTA in collaboration with Shahir Sadashiv Nikam and Sheetal Sathe.

On that day, due to weakness, Comrade did not accompany me on our usual morning walk. Instead, he went for a stroll just outside the house with his wife Uma; the attackers shot him on his way back. He was rushed to the hospital Aster Adhaar. Initially, it seemed like the light of his life would wane. But slowly, his health seemed to have stabilised; it gave rise to our belief “He will surely recover.” But, four days later, this belief suffered a severe and painful blow when the candle of his life went out. Since then, this world started to feel different. Primarily, this incident was a direct creation of ideological opponents, a calculated and pre-planned attack. It was an act of cold blooded violence.

In 1992, right after the Babri Masjid was demolished, I had felt similar sense of numbness, a deep sense of foreboding. I had felt weighed down by the fear of what was to follow this violence. My fears materialised when the demolition was followed by inhuman riots and violence. At the time, to overcome the deep rooted impact of the situation, we had focused on performing various street plays addressing the effects of the incident. In the the years since then, the violence has reached our very doorstep; this reality is only just hitting me.

Comrade was our main pillar of strength. His death has left a huge, irreplaceable vacuum in the hearts of the family and the society. Days go by. Eight months have passed. In the initial phase, we were in a state of shock; we felt an intense and tremendous emotional loss. This grief lasted for a long period. But with time came loneliness. Because of the burden of responsibilities that I had to shoulder, the pain that Comrade’s memories always brought got buried somewhere deep down. Maybe this is one of the ways our survival instinct works. This is how we protect ourselves from painful memories. After such incidents, it becomes imperative to face the present with stoicism and deal with situations as they come.

After Comrade’s demise, trying to face new questions, new problems, with patience and sensitivity became quite a challenge. Till Comrade was there, I never had to face or deal with the day to day issues of individual conflicts and dislike; the jealousy and animosity that arose out of professional aspirations. With him around, I could focus peacefully on my family and my academic pursuits. He had been a stalwart; an invisible yet a firm and protective wall, standing between us and the outside world.  Whenever I faced ideological dilemmas and conflicts, all I had to do was discuss them with Comrade and get the clarity I needed. These discussions could be about anything, from the fall of the Soviet Union to Mayawati’s experiment on social engineering to the secondary status of women in the society. I could speak freely with Comrade and express my thoughts openly. What surprises me is that even today, in these trying times, I feel his invisible presence supporting me. I keep thinking and reflecting about the path that he chose in life; the alternatives and the strategies he adopted when faced with challenges; the decisions that he took; and the strength with which he dealt with the innumerable difficulties of life, both personal and social. The conversations that I had with him guide me even today; they aid me when I’m faced with difficult choices; they make me a calmer person; and they help me see through the masks that some people put on.

Megha Pansare is Assistant Professor in Russian language at the Shivaji University, Kolhapur. She is also an activist of CPI, now holds the position of President, Kolhapur District, National Federation of Indian Women ( NFIW).

First Published on Indian Cultural Forum

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The voice of dissent is the biggest fear for the right wing

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