The Shiv Sena on Monday singled out Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for severe criticism for the Maharashtra Government’s failure to arrest the culprits behind the murder of senior CPI leader Govind Pansare, saying that it was amusing that he had chosen to lay the blame at the door of the police for the delay in cracking the case.
Taking exception to Fadnavis’ statement that “the police would definitely succeed in arresting the culprits behind Pansare’s murder if they exerted their full strength”, the Sena’s official mouth-piece Saamana stated. “The Chief Minister’s statement is really amusing. He has expressed lack of confidence in the police department that ironically comes in the State Home Ministry which he himself heads,” it added.
“What does the Chief Minister mean when he says that the police should exert their full strengthIJ He has not explained. If he thinks that the police are dilly-dallying in arresting the culprits behind Pansare’s murder, the failure lies at the door of the State Home Ministry that he heads,” the Saamana stated. Pansare (82) and his wife Uma (67) had been shot by two motorcycle-borne assailants from a close range, near their residence “Ideal Housing Society” at around 8.30 am on February 16, when the couple was returning from a morning walk from the Shivaji University campus at Kolhapur.
Pansare died of a heart failure at the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai on Friday last after he suffered excessive bleeding in his lungs, triggered by medical complications that arose after he underwent two surgeries at Aster Aadhar Hospital at Kolhapur for the bullet wounds that he sustained during the attack on him on Monday last.
Comparing the situation that prevailed the broad-day light murder of Pansare with that of the one existed in the wake of the killing renowned anti-superstition crusader Narendra Dabholkar in August 2013, the Sena’s official mouth-piece stated: “Though 18 months have passed since the murder of Narendra Dabholkar, the culprits behind the crime have not been arrested. Even in the case of Pansare, the culprits behind his murder are still at large. The Opposition had demanded the resignation of the then Home Minister, the Opposition is now doing the same. The then Chief Minister and Home Minister had said that they would leave no stone unturned to bring to book the culprits behind Dabholkar’s murder. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is saying as much now in connection with the murder of Pansare”.
“What we are witnessing today in the case of Pansare is a repeat of what we had witnessed after the murder of Dabolkar. There has not been any change in the story, screenplay or the dialogues. The only change that has taken place is the change in the cast – the hero and villain in the story have changed. The police have formed 20 teams to nab the culprits behind Pansare’s murder. Even after the murder of Dabholkar, a similar number of investigation teams had been formed. What is the new thing that is happening in MaharashtraIJ Can someone enlighten usIJ,” the Saamana asked.
“The Government and Chief Minister may have changed in Maharashtra, but the administration is the same. Rulers come and go. But, the system remains the same,” it stated. lamenting that nothing has changed under the new BJP-led saffron alliance regime, it further said, “Debt-trapped farmers are continuing to commit suicide as before. Pansare has been killed in a similar manner in which Dabholkar was gunned down (18 months ago). The Raju Shetty-led Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana has resorted to violent agitation as before. We have to emphasis here that it does not augur well for the rulers to blame it on the system for the things happening around us”.
Advising the BJP-led Government to take immediate steps to rein in the criminals ruling the roost in the State, the Sena mouth-piece said that it was high time that the police force was modernised and CCTV cameras were installed wherever necessary. “It is of no use blaming others for our failure. We have to realise that a serious effort is on to gag the progressive movement in Maharashtra. The people behind the gagging have not come from Pakistan. Dabholkar and Pansare are very much from here and one can find the reason for their killings from our own soil,” the Saamana averred.
This is not for the first time that the Shiv Sena, which despite being a part of the BJP-led saffron alliance Government, has taken on the BJP Government or its Chief Minister. Earlier, the Sena and its president Uddhav Thackeray had hit out at the BJP-led Government and Chief Minister Fadnavis for the Government’s failure to check the recurring farmers’ suicides in the State, “insensitive” comments against farmers by senior BJP Minister Eknath Khadse. The Sena had also ridiculed its senior ruling ally, BJP, over the latter’s embarrassing debacle in the Delhi Assembly polls, contending that the “broom-wielding” Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had reduced it to “dirt” and laying the blame of the party’s defeat at the door of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.