Mohan Ranade (born Manohar Apte; 25 December 1930 – 25 June 2019), was an Indian independence activist, teacher. He participated in

Goa liberation movement The Goa liberation movement was a movement which fought to end Portuguese colonial rule in Goa, Portuguese India. The movement built on the small scale revolts and uprisings of the 19th century, and grew powerful during the period 1940–196 ...

, and spent fourteen years in

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

jail for the premeditated murder of a

Goan Goans ( kok, गोंयकार, Romi Konkani: , pt, Goeses) is the demonym used to describe the people native to Goa, India, who form an ethno-linguistic group resulting from the assimilation of Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Indo-Portuguese, and ...

policeman named Custodio Fernandes.

Early life

Ranade was born as Manohar Apte, on 25 December 1930 in Sangli in Maharashtra, India. He adopted the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

, Mohan Ranade when he joined the Goa liberation movement.

Role in Goa liberation movement (1953–1969)

Ranade joined the militant organization, Azad Gomantak dal in 1953.As a member of the organization, he was involved in the liberation of

Silvassa Silvassa (Indo-Portuguese; ''Vila de Paço d'Arcos'') is a city and municipality in western India, and the headquarters of the Dadra and Nagar Haveli district. It was a part of the former Portuguese Goa and Damaon, and is today the largest city ...

in 1954. When he went to Goa, he found a job as a teacher in a Marathi school for girls in the village of Savoi Verem. According to his students, Ranade was a highly motivating teacher. On Saturdays, he used to conduct student meetings to inculcate a sense of Indian nationalism, and a desire for liberation from colonial rule in them. Ranade also participated in a number of armed robberies on police and customs outposts, as well as mines, in order to steal weapons and explosives for his organization. On 18 August 1955, Mohan Ranade, infuriated by the action of a policeman Custodio Fernandes of Savoi Verem, for pulling down the Indian Tricolor and stamping on it, went at night to his house, called out to him and then shot him dead.

Arrest and incarceration

On 22 October 1955, Ranade attempted an armed robbery on the Betim Police Station, with an intention to loot the weapons. But Ranade was shot and wounded in his stomach by the police. Ranade was arrested, charged with various offences (armed robbery, premeditated murder, etc.), tried in Portugal and sentenced to 26 years of imprisonment. He was incarcerated at the Caxias prison near

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

where he was kept in solitary confinement for the first six years. He was released in January 1969, more than seven years after the

Annexation of Goa The Annexation of Goa was the process in which the Republic of India annexed ', the then Portuguese Indian territories of Goa, Daman and Diu, starting with the armed action carried out by the Indian Armed Forces in December 1961. In Indi ...

by India in December 1961, and having served almost fourteen years in prison. The intervention of the then Tamil Nadu chief minister,

C. N. Annadurai Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai (15 September 1909 – 3 February 1969), popularly known as Anna also known as Arignar Anna or Perarignar Anna (''Anna, the scholar'' or ''Elder Brother''), was an Indian Tamil politician who served as the fo ...

, and

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

was instrumental in securing his release.

Honours

Ranade was honoured with

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

in 2001 and with the Sangli Bhushan in 2006. He was also awarded the Goa Puraskar in 1986 for his social work.

Later life and death

Ranade authored two books on the Goa Liberation Movement: ''Struggle Unfinished'' and ''Satiche Vaan''. He ran a charitable organisation in

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

that sponsors education of students from economically backward backgrounds. He was chairman of the Goa

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

for over five years. He spent his later years in the city of Pune where he died on June 25, 2019.

References

INDIAN EXPRESS: Mohan Ranade - Struggle Unfinished
Goanet listserve archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Ranade, Mohan Recipients of the Padma Shri in public affairs 1930 births 2019 deaths Marathi people People from Sangli Goa liberation activists