Jawab Do Andolan to question Maharashtra government

Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti members said the Jawab Do Andolan will be held on August 19 and 20 across the country

The Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (ANiS) will organise a Jawab Do Andolan on August 19 and 20 - the day anti-superstition crusader Dr Narendra Dabholkar was gunned down - to pose some questions to the government. One of them being, when will it take strict action against the Sanatan Sanstha. While there will be peaceful marches as part of the andolan in the main cities of the country, in Pune the Samiti will also hold other programmes such as talks. Milind Deshmukh, state chief secretary ANiS, announced this at a press conference on Friday.

On August 20, 2013, Dabholkar was gunned down at Omkareshwar Bridge in Pune. On February 16, 2015, CPI leader Govind Pansare was gunned down, and on August 30, 2015, Dr M M Kulburgi was shot dead. In the Dabholkar murder case the police have arrested Dr Virendra Tawade while two suspects are absconding. In all these murder cases the police have found links to the Sanstha.

Last week three accused, Vaibhav Raut, 40, Sharad Kalaskar, 25 and Sudhanva Gondhalkar, 39, were held for allegedly planning terror attacks in Mumbai, Pune, Nalasopara, Satara and Kolhapur. All of them are suspected to have links with Sanathan Sanstha, which it has denied.

"Right wing outfits had earlier targetted rational individuals, but after the arrest of the trio by the ATS, it seems that they were planning to target the masses, considering the huge amount of bombs and explosives found in their houses. This is really the face of this right wing outfit," said Deshmukh. He announced the Jawab Do Andolan, and added, "This year it will be five years but still the real culprits behind Dr Dabolkar's murder are roaming free."

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