more-in The murder of noted Ambedkarite thinker, Dr. Krishna Kirwale in his home in Western Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district on Friday under mysterious circumstances has sent shockwaves across Maharashtra. He was 62. According to reports, Dr. Kirwale, a former professor at Kolhapur’s Shivaji University who headed the Marathi Language Department, was found murdered in his home in the city’s Rajendranagar area. He was found stabbed to death in his bungalow in the city’s MHADA colony, said the police, who reached the spot late afternoon. As per a senior officer, the prima facie cause of the killing appears to be a trivial issue which may have involved non-payment of some household items on part of the retired professor. Nothing definite has yet been ascertained and investigations are in progress. Dr. Kirwale, who also headed the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Centre for Research and Development, was noted as a firebrand progressive cast firmly in the Ambedkarite mould. His writings expounding Dr. Ambedkar’s philosophy and the literature of the Dalit movement were widely respected and highly acclaimed. Some were often used as standard references in their field. Born in 1954, Dr. Kirwale was educated in Aurangabad’s Milind College and was highly influenced by the writings of noted Aurangabad-based Dalit writer Dr. Gangadhar Pantawne, under whose spell he came in the late 1960s, whilst still in his teens. He completed his doctorate in the Marathi language from the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University in 1987. He also acquired a Bachelor’s degree in Dramatics from the same university in 1983. Among his major contributions was a ‘Dictionary of Dalit and Gramin (Rural) Literatures’, a project undertaken under the aegis of the State Government. Among his other books was a biography of pioneering Dalit litterateur, Baburao Bagul. He also lectured widely, on a myriad of issues in Ambedkarite literature in particular, and Marathi literature in general.

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