PUNE: After a year-long struggle, young Durga finally succeeded in convincing her Vaidu community (nomadic tribe selling traditional medicines) to abolish the Jaat Panchayat - the caste committee which controlled socio-economic and religious moves at individual and community level and played the extra-constitutional role of the judiciary.

Vaidu community members in the state met in Thane recently and formed the Vaidu Community Development Committee, which include men and women from the community who will draft a development plan. "They (community) were planning to ostracize me for my progressive thinking, but I remained firm and have finally convinced them about my stand," said Durga.

She is indebted to rationalist Narendra Dabholkar who inspired her to raise questions about the caste panchayat.

A few months before he was shot dead, Dabholkar had launched 'Jaat Panchayatila Muthmatil Abhiyan' (Abolish Caste Panchayats) movement in the state and had drawn the wrath of various communities who considered panchayats a symbol of their honour and panchayat members, representatives of the gods.

The probe into Dabholkar's murder case also looked into the threats he received from the supporters of the caste panchayats. A year after his death, the movement against such panchayats is gaining momentum and hundreds of youths like Durga have connected with Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (MANS) to take forward his mission.

"My father's killers must be repenting. They killed him to snuff out his rationalist movement which opposed exploitation in all forms. But today, he continues to live through his legacy. His death has sown the seeds of rationalism in the minds of thousands," said Hamid Dabholkar .

He said all movements initiated by his late father continue to ignite young minds who are joining and supporting the cause he championed.

"We were shaken by the brutal killing. But there was no violent reaction anywhere in Maharashtra. In the last one year we have responded to all the frustrations and anger in an affirmative way. We have resolutely taken his movement forward and now it is clear that no one can kill Dabholkar. He legacy flourishes," Hamid added.

"It was a challenge to stand up without him. But, in his life time Dabholkar had imbibed in our minds that we have to face all odds and keep going. We just followed in his footsteps. The movement has gone on." Avinash Patil, state president of MANS, said.

Dabholkar's sacrifice has encouraged young minds to think about the causes he was fighting for, said Vinod Shirsath, editor of the weekly Sadhana.

His daughter Mukta Dabholkar said, "Immediately after my father's death, we told ourselves that we have to continue with his mission. I am satisfied that today MANS has sent out a strong signal that the killing of one person cannot kill his thoughts. The commitment of MANS activists is an assurance that Dabholkar will never die."

Dabholkar's mission

Implementation of the anti-superstition law

The state government finally approved the Anti-Superstition Bill over three months after Dabholkar's murder. Dabholkar had spent almost two decades persuading the government to crack down on superstition. "After the bill was approved MANS activists organized a yatra to disseminate information about the bill and travelled for 80 days to cover 30,000 km across the state. Till date, about 80 cases have been registered under the new Act," said Mukta. The samiti will continue to create more awareness about the bill, she said.

MANS movement

"The movement has reached all 36 districts in the state and has 250 branches. More youths are joining MANS and we have plans to take the movement forward," said Avinash Patil state president of MANS. The samiti will take up issues where common people are exploited in the name of caste and religion. Other programmes like Ganesh idol donation, immersion of idols in water tanks instead of the river and a firecracker-free Diwali will continue, said Patil.

Four-point programme

During his life time, Dabholkar has given a four-point programme to MANS (i) Programmes for spreading and inculcating a scientific outlook (ii) Developing inquisitive and critical attitude (iii) Constructive criticism of religion (iv) Addiction and treatment of drug addicts. The samiti planned a comprehensive outreach programme to highlight these points.

Caste-panchayat movement

This movement has spread across the state and MANS activists have succeeded to bring many cases to public and police notice where the Panchayat was acting as judiciary. MANS is working with many Jaat Panchayats to convince them and abolish the system.

Weekly Sadhana

Dabholkar skillfully used Sadhana platform to advocate scientific temperament and rationalism. "Sadhana is growing qualitatively and quantitatively. The special issue for children has achieved a circulation of about 4.5 lakh and soon we plan to launch a special issue for college youths," said Sadhana's editor Vinod Shirsath.

