5 July 2024: The family of the late social activist Govind Pansare has called for an investigation into the activities of the Hindutva organization Sanatan Sanstha, accusing it of systematically murdering intellectuals in Maharashtra and Karnataka. This demand was made in a letter to the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).
Govind Pansare, a rationalist and anti-superstition activist, was shot dead on February 16, 2015, while returning home from a morning walk in Kolhapur. The suspects in his murder are members of the right-wing extremist group Sanatan Sanstha.
The 68-page letter was submitted to the Superintendent of Police, Jayant Meena, of ATS Pune Division, prior to a Bombay High Court hearing. The court had instructed ATS to investigate additional materials provided by Pansare’s family to uncover the motive behind the crime.
Pansare, a leader of the Communist Party of India (CPI), was a social activist and trade unionist. On February 15, 2015, he and his wife Uma were attacked by two motorcycle-borne assailants. Pansare succumbed to his injuries on February 20 at Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital.
The family reiterated their demand for an investigation into the role of Sanatan Sanstha’s founder, Dr. Jayant Athawale, in the murder. The letter claims that right-wing Hindutva organizations like Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Janajagruti Samiti opposed Pansare’s work promoting secularism, rationalism, equality, and the development of marginalized communities.
Drawing parallels between the murders of Pansare, Dr. Narendra Dabholkar, Professor M.M. Kalburgi, and journalist Gauri Lankesh, the letter calls for action against Athawale, Sanatan Sanstha leader Virendra Marathe, and others for their alleged involvement. The letter highlights that all accused in Pansare’s case are members of Sanatan Sanstha or Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, some of whom are also implicated in other related cases, suggesting a common link.
The family emphasized the need to investigate Sanatan Sanstha as a terrorist network orchestrated by Athawale and Marathe. The letter references the 2018 Nalasopara explosives seizure case, in which the Maharashtra ATS recovered a large cache of pistols and explosives and charged twelve members of Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Janajagruti Samiti.
The letter concludes by urging investigative agencies to probe the organization’s officials for their suspected involvement in a larger conspiracy. The next hearing in the Bombay High Court case is awaited.
