Punish Dabholkar’s killers, don’t play politics
The killing of anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar in Pune must be condemned in the strongest possible words, and the perpetrators of the crime brought to book at the earliest. There can be no two opinions on this, but what is objectionable is the flurry of accusations that certain political leaders have made against ‘Right-wing activists', even as investigations into the murder are on. These allegations are a product of the prejudices that the accusers have against those who are ideologically opposed to them. The accusations are also based on the opposition that some of the so-called Right-wing organisations and individuals have had to certain aspects of Dabholkar's campaign. While it is true that organisations like the Sanathan Sanstha and the Hindu Jagruti Samiti had not taken too kindly to his drive, it is ridiculous to assume merely on that basis that these outfits have a role in Dabholkar's murder. While irresponsible comments coming from stray individuals can be brushed aside, politicians holding high positions must refrain from levelling wild charges. It is unfortunate that the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Mr Prithviraj Chavan, should have jumped the gun and reiterated his demand for a ban by the Centre on “such organisations”. Since his own police personnel are investigating the matter, the least he could have done is to hold his horses until the probe was completed. By prematurely implicating a certain section of the people, he has only vitiated the atmosphere for an impartial inquiry. Unfortunately, he is not alone; leaders belonging to other ‘secular' parties too have jumped onto the bandwagon to condemn the ‘Right-wing' in the hope that it will embarrass the Sangh Parivar and more particularly the Bharatiya Janata Party, although there is not a shred of indication that any organisation belonging to the Parivar is complicit in the killing. They ought to resist the temptation of playing politics over the death of an intrepid activist who had sought to rid the people of dangerous superstitions that have been packaged and sold for centuries in the name of religion and spiritual beliefs. Just as it is unwise to indulge in blame-game, it is also wrong to spread the misinformation that Dabholkar was anti-religion or that he was anti-Hindu. From all accounts, and as his son has stated, the activist was not even opposed to the concept of god. All that rankled him was the inhuman superstitious practices that godmen cutting across religious divides sold to the masses.
Before casting aspersions on others, the Congress-led Government in Maharashtra must answer why it had ignored for years the demand that Dabholkar had made to enact a law to ban superstitious practices. The activist had been campaigning for more than a decade. Now that he has been gunned down, the regime has in a knee-jerk reaction brought an Ordinance to check black magic and inhuman religious rituals in the garb of religion. Had the Government been indeed serious, it could have passed a similar law long before, by getting all political parties and various religious organisations on board. Whether the Ordinance, brought in without wide-ranging consultations and lacking in practicality, will work, remains to be seen.