Team Herald
PANJIM: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday expressed regrets over the delay in the release of late freedom fighter and Padma Shri awardee Mohan Ranade, from Portuguese jail nine years after Goa was liberated in 1961.
The ashes of late Ranade were received at Panjim by the CM. Urban Development Minister Milind Naik and former South Goa MP Narendra Sawaikar had flown to Pune to get the ashes.
The ashes were immersed in River Mandovi after Goans paid their last respects to the departed soul at Menezes Branganza hall.
Sawant said he was shocked to know that Ranade struggled in the Portuguese jail even after Goa’s liberation for years.
“Even nine years had passed since Goa was liberated and he was in Portugal jail. I am at loss of words to explain why? I express my regrets, though I do not know what the reason was,” he said.
He said Goans are reaping benefits of liberation but those who fought still remained in Portuguese jails.
“However, now this government will support the freedom fighters. We will keep working for them and help them,” he said.
As a mark of respect, Jujari, a Konkani film depicting the bravery of freedom fighters including Ranade will be screened at Menezes Braganza hall.
Ranade, who played key role in the Goa’s liberation movement, died in Pune on June 24.
Ranade, 90, was ailing for some time and was undergoing treatment at the hospital where he breathed his last. Ranade was arrested by Portuguese police in 1955 and incarcerated at the Fort of Caxias near Lisbon in Portugal where he was kept in solitary confinement for six years. Goa was liberated from Portuguese rule in 1961 and Ranade was released in January 1969, after having spent 14 years in prison.
Born in 1929 at Sangli in Maharashtra, Ranade was inspired by freedom fighters like Ganesh Damodar Savarkar and Vinayak Savarkar. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2001.
