Mohan Ranade, veteran freedom fighter from Goa, passes away

Mohan Ranade (89), the veteran freedom fighter from Goa and Padmashri Mohan Ranade, has passed away in Pune on June 25, 2019. Born in 1929 at Sangli in Western Maharashtra, Ranade was inspired by freedom fighters like Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and his brother Ganesh Damodar Savarkar. He was a member of the Azad Gomantak Dal, a group of revolutionaries who believed in the doctrine of armed attacks against the Portuguese colonial rule. During Goa’s liberation movement, Ranade was active in attacking police stations at Betim, Banastarim and other outposts. He was arrested by Portuguese police in 1955 and was imprisoned at the Fort of Caxias near Lisbon in Portugal. He was kept in solitary confinement for six years. Ranade was released from prison in January 1969, after the liberation of Goa in 1961, having served 14 years. He received the Goa Puraskar in 1986 for social work. He authored books on the Goa liberation movement.