KOLHAPUR: The trial of the suspects arrested in the murder of anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar is in an advanced stage, but the larger conspiracy remains under the wrap and the masterminds are yet to be arrested, Hamid Dabholkar, the slain rationalist's son, said on Friday.
Narendra Dabholkar, who had waged a long struggle for enactment against superstition and evil practices, was shot dead on August 20, 2013, by two assailants while he was out on a morning walk on the Vitthal Ramji Shinde bridge near Omkareshwar temple in Pune city.
Panvel-based ENT surgeon Virendrasinh Tawde is the key accused in the Dabholkar murder case. Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar, who, according to the CBI, are the two alleged shooters, are also among the accused in the February 2015 murder of Leftist leader and rationalist Govind Pansare in Kolhapur.
Hamid said, "The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has investigated the case. The trial has been going on for the last two years before a Pune court, but the masterminds are yet to be brought to the trial. The court has examined the five arrested suspects. An elaborate effort is needed to unravel the larger conspiracy behind the threats to the rationalists."
He said the accused have been booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, "but the activities to terrorise people with rationalist thinking have not stopped".
He said, "In the last 10 years, black magic and superstition practices have grown in Maharashtra in various forms, mainly due to poor implementation of the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and Other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act (enacted after the murder) and apathy of the state to make people aware of the dangers of evil practices."
Hamid said, "Over 1,000 cases have been registered under the Act. Each year, at least 10-20 innocent people, mostly women and children, have lost their lives to inhuman and evil practices. This shows we need to work on all fronts. The state needs to give priority to see that people resorting to such practices are punished by law."
He said, "The Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS) will begin a state-wide 'Prabodhan Yatra' on Sunday from the place where Dabholkar was murdered. MANS will campaign for the need to have a nation-wide law against black magic and the exercise will conclude with a national conference.
For a week now, MANS has been organising exhibitions, distributing books and holding blood donation events to create awareness about the Act. "We are organising lectures by experts on the two laws that came into effect after the death of Dabholkar. One is the anti-superstition Act and the other is the law against social ostracism," he said.
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