Veteran CPI leader Govind Pansare died

Govind Pansare, leader of Communist Party of India (CPI), died on 20 February 2015 at Breach Candy hospital in Mumbai. He was 82.

Pansare succumbed to bleeding in lungs after he was shot along with his wife Uma by unidentified persons near his house in Kolhapur on 16 February 2015.

Pansare was leading a campaign against the collection of toll in Maharashtra. He was threatened and abused for speaking against the glorification of Nathuram Godse at a gathering.

He was a Marxist intellectual, writer, public speaker, labour leader and an advocate. He wrote 21 books, most of them were commentaries on the wrong practices in the society.

His biographical sketch of Shivaji Maharaj in his book Shivaji Kon Hota has been translated in numerous Indian languages. The book is a commentary on how fundamentalists misused the image of Shivaji against Muslims. It drew strong opposition.

Born in 1933 in Kolhar, Ahmednagar district, Pansare was known for his advocacy for rights of people from the lower most strata of society.