Narendra Dabholkar

Narendra Achyut Dabholkar (1 November 1945 – 20 August 2013) was an Indian physician, social activist, rationalist and author from Maharashtra, India.

Dabholkar was born on 1 November 1945 to Achyut and Tarabai, being the youngest of ten children.

His elder siblings included the educationalist, and socialist Devdatta Dabholkar and Shripad Dabholkar.

He is the uncle of Atish Dabholkar.

Narendra 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 Government Medical College, Miraj.

He was the captain of the Shivaji University Kabaddi team.

He had represented India against Bangladesh in a Kabaddi tournament.

He won the Maharashtra government's Shiv Chhatrapati Yuva Award for Kabaddi.

He was married to Shaila, and has two children, Hamid and Mukta Dabholkar.

His son was named after the social reformer Hamid Dalwai.

He also criticised extravagant marriage ceremonies and arranged for his own children to be married in simple ceremonies.

The almanac was not consulted to select an auspicious time as it is traditionally done.

He was an atheist.

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 Adhav's Ek Gaon Ek Panotha (One village – One well) initiative.

Gradually, Dabholkar started focusing on eradication of superstition, and joined the Akhil Bharatiya Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (ABANS).

In 1989 he founded and became president of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS, Committee for Eradication of Superstition in Maharashtra).

In 1989, he founded the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (M.A.N.S, ), 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 social action centre located in Satara district, that seeks to "empower marginalised members of the community to lead lives of security, dignity, and prosperity".

He was closely associated with the Indian rationalist Sanal Edamaruku.

He 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 Associations.

Between 1990–2010, Dabholkar was active in a movements for the equality of Dalits (untouchables) and against India's caste system and caste-related violence.

He advocated renaming the Marathwada University after Babasaheb Ambedkar, who is the author of India's constitution and fought for the equality of Dalits.

Dabholkar wrote books on superstitions and their eradication, and had addressed over 3,000 public meetings.

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-Superstition and Black Magic Ordinance).

It was opposed by some political parties and 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."

Triggered by his assassination in 2013, the pending Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Ordinance was promulgated in the state of Maharashtra, four days later.

He 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 to celebrate the festival.

They were accused of wasting it while the rest of Maharashtra faced a drought.

A couple of weeks before his death on 6 August 2013, Dabholkar had complained in a press conference that the bill had not been discussed despite being tabled in seven sessions of the state assembly.

He had criticised the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Prithviraj Chavan, stating that the minister had disappointed the progressive people in the state.

A day after Dabholkar's murder, the Maharashtra Cabinet cleared the Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Ordinance, however the parliament would still need to support the bill for it to become law.

After 29 amendments, it was finally enacted as an ordinance on 18 December 2013.

In 2014, he was posthumously awarded the Padma Shri for social work.