Krishna Mense passed away at the age of 97 years at his residence in Belagavi at 3 p.m on Monday.
He was a senior labour leader, writer, speaker, journalist and a freedom fighter, who was a Goa liberation activist. He always spoke out against the history of Simaladhya and raised his voice against injustice.
As per the sources, he had been ill for the past few days. He was also undergoing treatment and was admitted to hospital for age related ailments a week ago.
He is survived by his sons Anand Mense, a retired professor of Geology ,and Sanjay Mense, an advocate,as well as his daughters, Lata Pawshe and Neeta Patil ,and his grandchildren.
Furthermore, Krishna Mense actively participated in the freedom movement but declined to accept any pension or other benefits offered to freedom fighters, demonstrating his selfless dedication to the nation.
He was an esteemed member and leader of the Communist Party of India. Additionally, He served as the president of the Indian Aluminium Company Labour Union in Belagavi for several years, advocating for worker’s rights and welfare. He was imprisoned many a times for the merger of the border areas including Belgaum with Maharashtra.
He fought for the rights of farmers, textile workers, agricultural laborer’s and women for more than 70 years. He also fought for the rights of the workers at Gokak Falls and Hindalco Company in Belagavi. Under his leadership, the gun rally, organized by the farmers at Khanapur grabbed the attention of the nation.
He also played a major role to remove superstition and corrupstion. He wrote 15 books, which includes ‘Rani Kittur Channamma’, ‘Basaveshwar Te Jnyaneshwar- Ek Chintan’, ‘Iraq America Yuddha’, and ‘Swatantrya Andolan Va Bharatiya Communist Paksha’ Ho Chi Minh, Basaveshwar to Dnyaneshwar, Gotaleli Dharti Petleli Mane, Asee Ladhlo Asee Khalo, Dr. Ambedkar and Buddha Dharma, Asee Todlya Bedya. He was awarded many prestigious awards from the government of Maharashtra and India.
In 1959, he started ‘Hemant’, a Marathi monthly . It was stopped after he was imprisoned in 1962 due to labour- relateed activities. In 1969, he launched another monthly, ‘Samyavadi’. He also wrote columns for leading newspapers.
Furthermore, he was also one of the prominent leaders of the anti superstition league, who was actively engaged in Maharashtra and Karnataka. He has dedicated his life to the creation of a united Maharashtra including Bidar-Bhalki, Belgaum-Karwar.
A few days ago, he was honored with the Rashtraveer Kar Puraskar.
Siddanagouda Patil, writer and long time associate, was a prominent leader of the labour and Communist movement in Karnataka. He played a pivotal role in building the CPI movement across the State as a leader and emerged as a key leader in Karnataka after its unification. He stated, “The Communist Party of India(CPI) joined hands with the Socialist Party led by Ram Manohar Lohia in the Goa liberation movement against the Portuguese regime.
However, Congress leaders in the region choose not to join the alliance “. He added, ” Mense helped activists who were entering Goa from various routes from Belagavi and Karwar”.
G. V. Kulkarni, local coordinator, stated that Mense translated Sri Baseveshwara’s Vachanas into Marathi. He authored a series of books on Marxism, and the labour movement, labour rights and communal harmony.
Trade union bodies like All India Insurance Employees (AIIEA) and the Indian Employees Union (IEU) have expressed their condolences.
Mr Kulkarni remarked, ” Our banners will be dipped in honor of the departed leader“.
The last rites of Krishna Mense were conducted at Sadashiv Nagar gaveyard later in the evening at 8.pm.