'Dabholkar's assassination shows state is not progressing, but regressing'

Following Tuesdayrsquos horrific assassination of noted antisuperstition activist Dr Narendra Dabholkar MiD DAY spoke with several celebrated public figures involved in various social causes who have been frequently targeted by detractors and have occasionally faced threat to life during their crusade Rightwing groups target artistes Marathi film actor Nandu Madhav who also works in theatre has been receiving threats from rightwing extremist groups in the past few months over the ongoing shows of his play lsquoShivaji Underground In Bhimnagar Mohallarsquo Marathi film actor Nandu Madhav who also works in theatre has been receiving threats from rightwing extremist groups in the past few months over the ongoing shows of his play lsquoShivaji Underground In Bhimnagar Mohallarsquo Madhav is the director of this theatrical piece and has run 235 shows of this play across the state Despite consistent threats calls and demands to stop the play he is firm about his story that deals with social issues and has continued with the performances He says his aim is to disseminate new revolutionary thoughts in society ldquoInitially some bureaucrats started taking objection to my play over the title Rather than ensuring adequate protection for playwrights and directors in Nanded and Parbhani they have started selfcensorshiprdquo Madhav said ldquoFor the first 200 shows of the play there were no major hurdles However later in Kolhapurour crew was threatened by the Bajarang Dal that was asking us to shop the shows Subsequently in Miraj Hindu Jangagruti Samiti raised a similar demand In Pune some four people of one Hindu outfit told me that the play is against their religious values and it should be banned Before a show in Nashik there was a morcha asking people who had bought tickets not to attend the play Luckily for us the audience came anyway and we continued with our performancerdquo he saidu00a0 On rising incidents of imposing selfcensorship Madhav said that he has told his team of lsquoShivaji Undergroundhelliprsquo to be alert during the play and keep a lookout for any suspicious occurrences There are a total of 27 artists working in the play ldquoChhatrapati Shivaji was a ruler who was respected by people from all strata of society and his work is not restricted to upper Hindu castes We are disseminating this message through our play and we will continue to perform shows no matter how many threat calls and demands for bans we received from fundamentalistsrdquo added Madhav Senior academician and HoD of the political science department of the University of Pune UoP Dr Suhas Palshikar is another known personality in the national media His area ofwork includes political and social movements in Maharashtra Talking about Dabholkarrsquos assassination Palshikar said ldquoIt is a major setback to a social movement in Maharashtra Every social activist is prepared to face some kind of opposition But everyone is not courageous like Dabholkar The assassination has led to panic and it would impact leadership and overall social atmosphererdquou00a0 In May 2012 controversy erupted over the inclusion of Dr BR Ambedkarrsquos cartoon in an NCERT textbook and as an advisor of NCERT Palshikar got roiled in the row Even after he resigned from NCERT some three people ransacked his office in UoP on May 12 2012 However he has not initiated any action against the attackers explaining that they have been provoked and punishment would not help them Veteran literary figure and former chairperson of Maharashtra literary meet Dr Nagnath Kottapalle is also an activist who talks about ways of social progression in public ldquoDabholkarrsquos assassination has raised serious doubts about the progressive status of Maharashtra If we study the cause for which he was fighting our society has in fact regressed due to this incident If we see the rising incidents of owner killings attacks on Dalits it seems like fundamentalism is increasing in the state But we should continue to fight against itrdquo Kottapalle said u00a0