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Ravindra Kelekar was a noted Indian author who wrote primarily in the Konkani language, though he also wrote in Marathi and Hindi. A Gandhian activist, freedom fighter and a pioneer in the modern Konkani movement, he is a well known Konkani scholar, linguist, and creative thinker. Kelkar was a participant in the Indian freedom movement, Goa’s liberation movement, and later the campaign against the merger of the newly formed Goa with Maharashtra. He played a key role in the founding of the Konkani Bhasha Mandal, which lead the literary campaign for the recognition of Konkani as a full-fledged language, and its reinstatement as the state language of Goa. He authored nearly 100 books in the Konkani language, including Amchi Bhas Konkaneech, Shalent Konkani Kityak, Bahu-bhashik Bharatant Bhashenche Samajshastra and Himalayant, and also edited Jaag magazine for more than two decades.
Kelekar died at Apollo Hospital at Margao, Goa at around 11.30 am on Friday August 27. He was 85. His remains were cremated with State honours at his native village of Priol.
Kelekar received the Padma Bhushan, the Gomant Sharada Award of Kala Academy, the Sahitya Akademi Award, and the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship —the highest award of the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters. He also received the 2006 Jnanpith Award, the first ever awarded to an author writing in the Konkani language, which was presented in July 2010.
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