Attack on Govind Pansare reminiscent of Dabholkar's murder, say activists

On Monday morning the CPI leader and his wife were out on their usual morning walk in their hometown of Kolhapur when they were shot at by motorcycleborne assailants The modus operandi bears grave parallels to the 2013 killing of rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar in Pune said activists and politicians of the stateActivists near CST demand the arrest of the accused PicAtul KambleGovind Pansare a veteran leader was highly critical of rightwing forces and corruption in the system which he vocalised through his public speeches and writings He was currently leading the agitation against toll tax in Kolhapur the sugar capital of the stateAntisuperstition activist Dabholkar was shot at and killed oneandhalf year back when he was also out for a morning walk His killers are still at large Three years before the rationalistrsquos murder an RTI activist Satish Shetty was also stabbed to death when he was out for a morning strollDabholkar had invited the wrath of people for his activism against superstition Investigating agencies are still searching for clues to find the accused Before Shettyrsquos murder he had tried to dig out information in the alleged irregularities in investment made by a big real estate and infrastructure company Just yesterday the CBI decided to reinvestigate the murder after new evidence was recovered in JanuaryPansare known for his work for the underprivileged and going beyond his leftist ideology to help people even if they were associated with other political parties is considered a father figure to many Sources told midday that he had recently made a few statements against rightwing parties of all religionsActivist Medha Patkar demanded of the police to find the connection between Dabholkarrsquos murder and the attack on Pansare couple ldquoCops should probe the recent speeches given by Pansarerdquo she said asking the Chief Minister to find out the people behind ldquosuch cowardly actsrdquoDabholkarrsquos daughter Mukta said ldquoThese attacks are a preplanned conspiracy These are attacks on secularismrdquo NCP chief Sharad Pawar condemned the attack calling it an attempt to muzzle voices that stand for their ideology He said Dabholkarrsquos murder was also an attack on people who speak against extreme forcesMaharashtra Congress President Manikrao Thakre said that the attack showed a similar pattern that was observed in the rationalistrsquos killing ldquoEvents like these make us ask if people with different ideologies have been targeted systematically in recent times This is a bad sign for a progressive state like Maharashtra where freedom of expression is paramountrdquoChief Minister Devendra Fadnavis who also heads the home department of the state said that the attack was being investigated from all angles ldquoTen teams of cops are on the job We will soon have a breakthrough and arrest the assailantsrdquo he told reporters adding that the Director General of Police will supervise the investigationsThe attack evoked a statewide protest on Monday Activists intellectuals trade unions and people from the unorganised sector took to the streets in Mumbai Pune Nashik and other major cities demanding the arrest of the accused