Vikram Pawaskar is the Maharashtra State BJP Vice-President (VP) and belongs to a political family. His father, Vinayak Pawaskar is a senior Hindutva leader, and Pawaskar himself seems to be comfortably embedded within the Hindutva family. He is reportedly close to Maharashtra Deputy CM, Devendra Fadnavis, and has also has displayed proximity to Manohar Bhide (who’s self-styled name is Shambhaji Bhide now). Bhide who leads or heads the Shree Shiv Pratishthan is a notorious Hindutva leader from Maharashtra. Vikram Pawaskar has often speaking at events organised by Bhide’s Shree Shiv Pratisthan Hindustan. He has also held the post of the president of the Hindu Sena. His X bio states that he is located in or based from Karad, Maharashtra. Karad is a small town located in the Satara district, and is about 28 kilometres from the Puesevali village where Pawaskar today stands accused as being a key player and organiser behind stoking violence against Muslims.
Civil society groups have agitated and written to authorities about his hate speech made in June, 2023. Many people from Satara, especially from marginalised groups, who faced the violence have even called for his arrest, claiming he played an instrumental role in the September 2023 Satara violence which led to violent attacks on Muslim property, mosques, and even led to one young Muslim man being murdered and several others injured and arrested.
This story was originally published in cjp.org.in Read the full story here .