Five years ago, Pune-based Nandini Jadhav hadn't even heard of Narendra Dabholkar . Then on August 20, 2013, news of the rationalist and anti-superstition crusader's murder hit the headlines. A curious Jadhav read up on the man and his mission.

"When I started reading about Dabholkar, I realised that he was just campaigning to inculcate scientific temper and the spirit of inquiry in people," says Jadhav, who put her flourishing beauty parlour business on the backburner to become a full-time worker with the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS or Maharashtra Blind Faith Eradication Committee) established by Dabholkar. She is at the forefront of MANS' Jata Nirmulan Abhiyaan , a drive to abolish the custom of matted hair among devdasi women.

In the last few years, Dabholkar's movement has spread, says his son Hamid Dabholkar. "After my father was killed, we felt that fear would keep people away from the movement. But to our surprise, we now have branches in all 36 districts of Maharashtra with about 5,000 full-time workers (up from 2,000 in 2013). Organisations in other states have also connected with us," says Hamid.

In 2013, MANS had 220 branches in Maharashtra; it has added 100 more since then. While it did not have much social media presence in Dabholkar's lifetime, today it has 88,000 Facebook followers. The organisation is working in Punjab and Haryana with the Tarkasheel Society and with rationalist associations in Karnataka and Kerala.

It also worked with groups in Assam to get the bill against witch-hunting passed by the state assembly. Support has come from unexpected corners, says Hamid. There are actors and farmers, religious leaders and rationalists, atheists and spiritualists, youngsters and women.

