Nonagenarian veteran Marathi journalist, trade unionist, freedom fighter, and author Vasant Pradhan breathed his last late on Sunday.
Nonagenarian veteran Marathi journalist, trade unionist, freedom fighter, and author Vasant Pradhan breathed his last late on Sunday.
Expressing his shock at the news, senior journalist Kumar Ketkar told dna, "This is a big blow. In him we have lost one of the last of the few totally honest, clean trade-unionists."
"At a time when the Congress-led INTUC was beaten into submission by Datta Samant's militancy, the Shiv Sena's mindless aggression and the stridency of the Communists, he was the only one who made workers' welfare his priority. It is truly a sad day..." he added.
Echoing him, veteran publisher Dinkar Gangal, who founded one of the most iconic publishing houses in Marathi — Granthali Prakashan — said, "He was one of the last few of the tallest socialist trade unionists."
Born on June 16, 1924, Pradhan began his public life in 1942, when he was arrested for participating in the Quit India Movement. This King George school's (Dadar) matriculate student pursued his academics in various towns and cities, such as Alibaug, Jalgaon, Bombay and Baroda, as his father Gangadhar Pradhan had a transferrable job as a post master. Even at the inter arts stage of his academic career, he continued to remain involved in the student movement and the trade union movement.
He worked for the Socialist Party formed after Congress Socialists broke away from the Congress. The Socialist Party established the Mill Mazdoor Sabha, where Pradhan was a full-time worker under the leadership of Raja Kulkarni. He faced imprisonment for trade union activity during this period.
Always frank with his views, when he, along with a group, took on party superiors over policies and functioning, it led to his dismissal. Though he didn't join any political party later, he always remained fiercely anti-communal and sympathised with progressive causes.
Under the guidance of senior journalist GM Chitnis, Pradhan began his journalistic career in Chitra, a Marathi daily, where he grew to become the editor around the same time that the Samyukta Maharashtra movement began gaining momentum. When Pradhan's sympathies for the movement saw him fall out with the proprietor, he was dismissed from Chitra.
In 1956, Pradhan and his wife Kisan started Zunjar, a Marathi eveninger which was in circulation for over a decade. In 1966, Pradhan became sub-editor of Loksatta in 1969 and retired from this post in 1984. During his stint at Loksatta, Pradhan worked in the Indian Express Newspapers' (Bombay) Employees Union, an association which continued for over 15 years after he retired from Loksatta.
Along with his journalistic career, Pradhan also authored several books on labour law and was regarded as an authority on the subject by workers and manufacturers heading small and medium enterprises.
He also served as the president of Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya, honorary secretary of Gandhi Smarak Nidhi, Mumbai, and president of Gandhi Film Foundation.
He is survived by his wife, colleague, and lawyer Kisan, daughters justice Nishita Mhatre of the Calcutta High Court and Deepti Pradhan, a scientist attached to the Yale University, and his son Aneesh, a musician who is married to vocalist Shubha Mudgal.
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