‘Arrests delayed to wipe out links with organisations’

Pune: Tushar Gandhi, the great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, has questioned the slow pace of investigation into the murder of rationalist, Dr Narendra Dabholkar, and the alleged delay in nabbing the killers. Mr Gandhi was speaking at a programme organised to commemorate the fifth death anniversary of Dr Dabholkar, who was murdered in August 2013.

Referring to the zeroing in on two accused by the state ATS and the CBI, Mr Gandhi said, “We need to ask why these killers were not caught earlier during the past five years. It is easier to understand that for the past five years, all their connections with organisations and their leaders and ideals have been wiped out. Now, after they have realised that all links have been wiped out and there could be no problems for their leaders, they have been arrested. They will get dates after dates and will be later released for lack of proof. Even if they are punished, it does not mean that the organisations behind the murders of Dr Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and M.M. Kalburgi will be punished.”

Referring to the RSS, Mr Gandhi said, “These institutions cannot be punished by the judicial system. The society should punish them. We need to create a society that will isolate their institutions. They should be penalised.”

Over 500 people had gathered at a protest rally titled “Jawab Do” held for up to three km. People raised slogans stating that you could kill a person but not his thoughts. Mr Gandhi walked along with the other protesters. The Hindi translation of Dr Dabholkar’s book, “Bhram aur Niras” was released on the occasion.

Dr Hamid Dabholkar, the son of Dr Dabholkar, said, “Even though it is late, this is a good step. Like the Karnataka government which acted in eight to nine months, Maharashtra should have acted the same.”