Narendra Dabholkar

Narendra Achyut Dabholkar (1 November 1945 – 20 August 2013) was an Indian rationalist and author from Maharashtra. He was the founder-president of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS), an organization set up to eradicate superstition.

Early life
Dabholkar was born on 1 November 1945 to Achyut and Tarabai, being the youngest of ten siblings, the eldest was the late educationalist, Gandhian and socialist Devdatta Dabholkar. He did his schooling at New English School Satara and Willingdon College Sangli. He was a qualified medical doctor, having obtained an MBBS degree from the Miraj Medical College. He was married to Shaila and has two children, Hamid and Mukta Dabholkar.

He was the captain of the Shivaji University Kabaddi team. He represented India against Bangladesh in a Kabaddi tournament. He won the Maharashtra government's Shiv Chhatrapati Yuva Award for Kabaddi.

Activism
After working as a doctor for 12 years, Dabholkar became a social worker in the 1980s. He became involved with movements for social justice, such as Baba Adhava's One village - One well agitation.

Gradually, Dabholkar started focusing on eradication of superstition, and joined the Akhil Bharatiya Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (ABANS). In 1989, he founded the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti ("Committee for Eradication of Superstition in Maharashtra"), and campaigned against superstitions, confronting dubious tantriks and claimed holy men who promised 'miracle cures' for ailments. He criticised the country's "godmen", self-styled Hindu ascetics who claim to perform miracles and have many followers. He was the founding member of Parivartan, a rehabilitation centre located in Satara. He was closely associated with the leading Indian rationalist Sanal Edamaruku. Dabholkar was the editor of a renowned Marathi weekly Sadhana, which was founded by Sane Guruji. He also served earlier as a vice president of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Association.

Between 1990–2010, Dabholkar had taken part in agitations in Maharashtra like the movement protesting for the equality of Dalits, against caste discrimination and in naming the Marathwada University after Babasaheb Ambedkar. He wrote books on superstitions and their eradication, and had addressed over 3,000 public meetings. Dabholkar had taken on Asaram Bapu in March 2013 over an incident during Holi in Nagpur, when Bapu and his followers used drinking water from tankers brought from the Nagpur Municipal Corporation for celebrating the festival and wasting over 50,000 liters while rest of Maharashtra faced drought.

Anti-superstition and black magic bill
In 2010, Dabholkar made several failed attempts to get an anti-superstition law enacted in the state of Maharashtra. Under his supervision, MANS drafted the Anti-Jaadu Tona Bill (Anti-Black Magic Bill). It was opposed by Hindu extremist organizations across the board as well as the Warkari sect. Political parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena opposed it claiming it would adversely affect Hindu culture, customs and traditions. Critics accused him of being anti-religion but in an interview with the Agence France-Presse news agency he said, "In the whole of the bill, there's not a single word about God or religion. Nothing like that. The Indian constitution allows freedom of worship and nobody can take that away, this is about fraudulent and exploitative practices."

A couple of weeks before his death, Dabholkar had complained that the bill had not been discussed despite being tabled in seven sessions of the state assembly. He accused the chief minister of Maharashtra, Prithviraj Chavan of stifling progressive thought in the state. A day after Dabholkar's murder, the Maharashtra Cabinet cleared the anti-black magic and superstition ordinance, however the parliament would still need to support the bill for it to become law.

Death
On 20 August 2013, while out on a morning walk, Dabholkar was shot at by two unidentified gunmen near Omkareshwar temple, Pune at 7:20 AM IST. The assailants fired four rounds at him from a point blank range and fled on a motorcycle parked nearby. Two bullets hit Dabholkar in his head and chest. He later succumbed to his injuries while being treated at Sassoon Hospital. He had faced several threats and assaults since 1983 but had rejected police protection.

Dabholkar's assassination was condemned by many political leaders and social activists. The Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan announced a reward of inr 1000000 to any person with information of the assailants. Furthermore, political parties called for a bandh (strike) in Pune on 21 August, and various institutions across Pune remained closed to protest Dabholkar's assassination.

External links and further reading

 * "Battling Superstition, Indian Paid With His Life"
 * Johannes Quack, Disenchanting India: Organized Rationalism and Criticism of Religion in India, Oxford University Press, USA (November 22, 2011), trade paperback, 380 pages,