ON February 16, 2015, Govind Pansare and Uma Pansare went for a morning walk. Men on a motorbike stopped near them, shot them, and fled. Govind Pansare died four days later, on February 20; Uma Pansare surived, but continues to suffer from the attack. Govind Pansare was a communist, whose book – Who Was Shivaji? (New Delhi: LeftWord Books) – rankled the right-wing which did not agree with his factual presentation of the life of this 17th century icon.

Who killed Govind Pansare, author and communist? The police in the state of Maharashtra have not been able to solve this case. Seven years have gone by and yet the police have not gathered hard facts, which makes a prosecution unlikely. Pansare’s assassination came alongside the murder of several other key writers, many of them rationalists and secularists, such as Dr Narendra Dabholkar (August 20, 2013), M M Kalburgi (August 30, 2015), and Gauri Lankesh (September 5, 2017). Facts established in several of such cases show that the right-wing conspirators are associated with the Sanathan Sanstha, a Hindu terrorist group, and other such organisations.

The entire world is witness to the rising trend of hate crimes in India and crimes against Indian culture (including the murder of writers).

We, the International Union of Left Publishers, stand in solidarity with the families of the victims and we raise our voice in defence of the progressive and humane values of secularism, social progress, and social justice.

We appeal to the authorities in Maharashtra to identify, apprehend, and bring to book all those involved in the murder of Govind Pansare.

1. Amelia Kraigher, Založba /*cf., Slovenia
2. Ana Maldonado, Estrella Roja-Frente Francisco de Miranda, Venezuela
3. Aniruddha , National Book Agency, Kolkata, India
4. Cristiano Armati, Red Star Press, Italy
5. Efemia Chela, Inkani Books,  Johannesburg, South Africa
6. Enamul Haque, Member, Poli Bureau, Workers Party of Bangladesh
7. Fernando Vicente Pietro,Batalla de ideias, Argentina
8. Francisco Vértiz, Batalla de Ideas, Argentina.
9. Hayri Erdoğan, Yordam Kitap, İstanbul, Turkey
10. Jang Won, Secondthesis, Seongnam, South Korea
11. Layan Fuleihan, 1804 Books, United States
12. Manu Karuka, 1804 Books, United States
13. Miguel Yoshida, Expressão Popular, Brasil
14. Ovidiu Tichindeleanu, IDEA Cluj, Romania
15. Pablo Abufom, Editorial Proyección, Chile.
16. Qalandar Bux Memon, Naked Punch Press, Pakistan
17. Ronny Agustinus, Marjin Kiri, Indonesia
18. Shiraz Durrani, Vita Books, Nairobi, Kenya 
19. Simón Vázquez, Bellaterra edicions / KULT
20. Thomas Blommaert, Uitgeverij EPO, Belgium
21. Tony Pecinovsky, International Publishers, USA
22. Walter Bgoya, Mkuki na Nyota Publishers, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

From India: Chintha Publishers, Kerala; Bharathi Puthakalayam, Tamilnadu; LeftWord Books, New Delhi; Prajasakthi Publishing House, Andhra Pradesh; Nava Telangana Publishing House, Hyderabad; Vam Prakashan, New Delhi; Janashakti Publications, Maharashtra and Kriya Madhyama, Bangalore.