Peon to professor to bestselling author, Comrade Govind Pansare a left-wing stalwart

Comrade Pansare, who is associated with the Left since his school days, is known for his strident advocacy of peoples' movements and for the book 'Shivaji Kon Hota?' (Who was Shivaji?) This book, which was originally a speech delivered in May 1987, has sold over a lakh copies in many languages and is counted as a runaway success.

In this handy primer for progressive activists to counter propaganda, Pansare laid down an alternate postulation of the warrior-king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as a founder of a pro-people welfare state. This is major intellectual break from the views of Hindutva outfits who used the icon to target Muslims or Maratha extremist organisations like the Sambhaji Brigade who used Shivaji Maharaj to turn the tables on Brahmins.

In his seminal work, Pansare has pointed out that Shivaji was a secular ruler whose top generals and associates were Muslims. Shivaji also respected women, abolished serfdom, framed pro-farmer policies, took on established interests, and appointed Dalits and backward classes to prominent positions.

Unlike many xenophobic leaders who target Brahmins across the board, Pansare pointed out that Brahminism or Brahmanya was a "disease" which consisted of hating others and considering oneself supreme regardless of flaws, which was not peculiar to the Brahmins but also affected other castes.

A prolific author who has also penned books on Marxism, Muslims, reservations, Rajarshi Shahu, globalisation and agriculture, Pansare is different from classical mainstream leftists as he matched this intellectual grist with action on the ground.

Background
Born on November 26, 1933, at Kolhar in Ahmednagar's Srirampur taluka, Pansare's family lost their farmland to moneylenders. Though his mother Harnabai worked as a farm hand and father Pandharinath did small jobs, the family lived in poverty. Pansare, the last among five children, also headed the socialist Rashtra Seva Dal (RSD) shakha in his village. His parents, particularly his mother, wanted to educate him and Pansare took admission to a high school in Rahuri aided by local RSD worker Govind Patki.

Pansare came into contact with the Communists during his school days, campaigned for CPI leader P.B Kadu Patil in the assembly elections and later shifted to Kolhapur for education with Patki who hailed from the district.

He studied at the Rajaram College in Kolhapur, staying at The Republic Bookstall run by Leftists in Bindu chowk and read works by Communist icons like Lenin. He also worked as a newspaper vendor, a peon in the municipality's octroi department, primary teacher and later served as associate professor in the Shivaji University for a decade.

Participation in public movements
After his BA (honors), he studied law at the Shahaji Law college, and practised labour law since 1964, participating in the Samyukta Maharashtra and Goa freedom struggles. He was arrested during the 1962 India-China war as part of the crackdown against Communists who were seen as pro-China. Pansare was also active in labour movements, heading unions for hawkers, grain mill workers, mechanical and engineering workers, farm labourers and slum dwellers. After the undivided CPI split in 1964, he chose to stay with the parent party.

He was the state secretary of the CPI, a member of the party's national executive and also runs a centre for couples desiring intercaste and interfaith marriages. His three children including son Comrade Avinash (Avi) who was active in the Left movement but passed away at a young age, have gone in for inter-caste marriages.

However, despite spending a lifetime in the Left, Pansare has pointed to the flaws of the party, ruing that the Communists had failed to take over the intellectual mantle of a system-builder such as Mahatma Phule.