Govind Pansare

Govind Pansare Biography

Govind Pansare was an Indian politician belonging to Communist Party of India who authored the bestseller Shivaji Kon Hota – the bestselling biography of Marathi language. On 16 February 2015, he and his wife were attacked by a group of people and injured Pansare died four days later. He is one among those victim writers/speakers of 2015 who were murdered, which resulted in protests from Indian writers by returning of National and Sahitya Academy awards. Pansara has authored 21 books and most of them are commentaries on social wrongs. His best known work is Shivaji Kon Hota which was sold over 1,45,000 copies and has been translated to 5 languages including English.

Pansare was born into a poor family in Kolhar village of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra. His father did odd jobs and his mother was a farmworker. He was the youngest of 5 siblings and Pansare’s childhood was spent in poverty. He joined the local branch of Rashtra Seva Dal, at a younger age thus starting his social activities. He studied at a high school at Rahuri and was introduced to communism in those days. Later in 1952, he joined the Communist Party of India after shifting to Kolhapur where he completed his education.

While studying in the Rajaram College, he regularly read books on communist ideology and also participated in Samyukta Maharashtra Movement and the Goa liberation movement. He completed LLB from Shahaji Law College. In 1962 he was arrested foreseeing him as a China-sympathizer. Two years later he started practicing in the field of labour law. Apart from communism, he was also associated with other activities like inter-caste marriages. Pansare was a rationalist and an opponent of right-wing extremism. After the murder of Narendra Dabholkar, he continued with anti-superstition activities and supported the passing of the Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Act. On 16 February 2015, he and his wife were attacked by two armed men on a motor bike. Though his wife survived, Pansare who was severely wounded succumbed to death. He died at the age of 81.

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Updated: June 15, 2018