Tarksheel Society Opposes Bail Granted to Accused in Dr. Dabholkar Murder Case

Barnala    (Asian independent)   — The State Committee of the Tarksheel Society Punjab has strongly opposed the Bombay High Court’s decision to grant bail to Sharad Kalaskar, an accused in the murder of Dr. Narendra Dabholkar, founder of the Maharashtra-based rationalist organization Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti. The committee has demanded cancellation of his bail and the immediate arrest of other accused, including the alleged main conspirator Dr. Virendra Tawde. In a press statement issued from Tarksheel Bhawan, Barnala, state organizational head Master Rajinder Bhadaur and state committee leaders Hem Raj Steno, Rajpal Singh, Ram Swaran Lakhewali, and Sumeet Amritsar alleged that the Bombay High Court is applying double standards. While accused killers in the Dabholkar and Comrade Govind Pansare cases are being granted bail, journalists, lawyers, and social activists implicated under allegedly false charges in the Bhima Koregaon violence case have been languishing in jail for the past seven years without trial, and are repeatedly denied bail. State committee leaders Rajesh Akalia, Joginder Kullewal, Jaswant Mohali, Jaswinder Phagwara, Gurpreet Shahina, and zonal leader Param Ved Sangrur stated that under alleged pressure from the Modi government, police and central investigative agencies have deliberately failed to arrest key accused, including Dr. Virendra Tawde, Sanjeev Punalekar, and Vikram Bhave, despite the availability of clear evidence against them. They further alleged that under its Hindutva-driven communal and fascist agenda, the Modi government is attempting to undermine scientific thinking, secularism, democracy, and the Constitution by saffronizing educational and constitutional institutions. They said that, under the political patronage of the BJP-RSS, Hindutva elements have assassinated rationalist thinkers like Dr. Dabholkar, Govind Pansare, Prof. M.M. Kalburgi, and journalist Gauri Lankesh in recent years, with the aim of silencing rational voices in the country. The Rationalist leaders urged the Bombay High Court to ensure that the main conspirators in Dr. Dabholkar’s murder, including Dr. Virendra Tawde, as well as the communal killers of Govind Pansare, Prof. M.M. Kalburgi, and Gauri Lankesh, are given strict punishment without any further delay.