Govind Pansare (26 November 1933 – 20 February 2015) was a left-wing Indian politician of the Communist Party Of India (CPI).
[4] Govind Pandharinath Pansare was born on 26 November 1933 in Kolhar village, Shrirampur taluka, Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra.
A member of the organisation, Govind Patki, helped Pansare get admission to a high school in Rahuri.
[1][5] While studying in the Rajaram College, Kolhapur, he used to visit a book shop called The Republic Bookstall, which was run by left-wing activists.
[7] After the murder of Narendra Dabholkar, the anti-superstition activist, Pansare had asked the members of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti to continue his work.
His daughter-in-law Megha Pansare is Assistant Professor in Russian language at the Shivaji University, Kolhapur.
She is also an activist of CPI, now holds the position of President, Kolhapur District, National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW).
[16] On 20 February 2015, Pansare was airlifted to the Breach Candy Hospital after he reported a swelling in his lungs.
[19] Sharad Pawar, leader of Nationalist Congress Party, said this was an attempt to silence the people who speak against extremists.
Manikrao Thakre, an Indian National Congress leader, said that the attacks on Dabholkar and Pansare were a bad sign for the freedom of speech in Maharashtra state.
[3][13] On the other hand, the Additional Director General of Police, K. L. Bishnoi, said that there were no connections between the Dabholkar and Pansare case, except that both of them were morning walkers.
[2] B. G. Kolse Patil, a retired judge, said that in December 2014, Pansare had received threats after he organised an event.
[2][6] On 18 February 2015, an activist, Ketan Tirodkar, filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Bombay High Court claiming that police had known about threats to his life and had failed to act.
According to the police, Gaikwad owned a mobile repair shop and was a member of the Sanatan Sanstha group since 1998.
[26][27] The police said that the Gaikwad resembled one of the person captured on the CCTV footage and so they had started tapping his phone.
[28] One 17 September 2015, the police arrested four more persons – a woman from Mumbai, presumed to be Gaikwad's girlfriend; a man from Pune; and two men from Goa.
[27][28] On 20 September 2015, Maharashtra and Karnataka Police began a joint manhunt for a man called Rudra Patil.
[29] During investigation Maharashtra found that Sameer Gaikwad was in different city (Thane) around the time of the murder of Govind Pansare.
[30] During police investigation no evidence could be found against Sameer Gaikwad or Sanatan Sanstha in the assassination of Govind Pansare.
Hence, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) decided not to file a petition seeking custody of Sameer Gaikwad.
[35] Short film The Bookshelf[36] was produced in the memory of Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and M. M. Kalburgi[37] by three Indian publishing houses Tulika Books, Perumal Murugan's publisher Kalachuvadu and Deshabhimani Book House.