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Pundalik Gaitonde

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Pundalik Gaitonde
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
1962–1967
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byS. J. Jaganath[1]
ConstituencyPanaji
Personal details
Born
Pundalik Dattatreya Gaitonde

(1913-07-03)3 July 1913
Died13 November 1992(1992-11-13) (aged 79)
Political partyIndian National Congress
Spouse
Edila Gaitonde
​
(before 1992)​
OccupationSurgeon

Dr. Pundalik Dattatreya Gaitonde (3 July 1913 – 13 November 1992) was a surgeon from Goa and an active participant in the Goa liberation movement.[2] Along with Antonio Colaco, Gaitonde was nominated by the President of India to the 3rd Lok Sabha in 1962[3] following the incorporation of Goa, Daman and Diu into India on 19 December 1961.[4]

Early life

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Pundalik Gaitonde was born on 3 July 1913 to Dattatreya alias Mangesh Gaitonde and Anandibai at Borim, Goa in Portuguese India. Pundalik Gaitonde's father Dattatreya hailed from Palolem in Canacona while Anandibai hailed from Borim. Pundalik Gaitonde was the third among nine siblings. His father Datatreya was a local landlord.[5] His younger brother, Nanda, was also a participant in the Goa liberation movement.[6]

Aged five, Pundalik was initiated into education and he attended a local school. Aged eleven, the Upanayana ritual was performed. Gaitonde pursued his higher education at the Escola Primaria de Canacona at Chaudi, Canacona.[5]

Since there were no further opportunities for higher education in Canacona, Gaitonde joined the A. J. de Almeida School at Ponda to pursue his first year of Lyceum. It was at this school that Gaitonde befriended poet Bakibab Borkar.[5] During these years, Gaitonde mastered the Portuguese language. But since the A. J. de Almeida School did not have the facility to study the third year of Lyceum, Gaitonde went to Margao.[5]

After successfully completing the course of Lyceum, he joined the Lyceum at Panaji. Aged twenty, Gaitonde delivered a lecture on Albert Einstein's Theory of relativity. This lecture was appreciated by many. Gaitonde also attended programmes organised by the União Académica in Panaji. Thereafter, he attended the Escola Médico-Cirúrgica de Goa to study medicine.[5] Gaitonde then went to Portugal in order to pursue higher studies in medicine. He graduated in surgery from the Faculty of Medicine at the Lisbon University, where he was taught by António Egas Moniz (who went on to become a Nobel laureate in 1949) and Reynaldo dos Santos.[2] During the same period, Gaitonde started his independent research regarding cancer.[5]

Marriage

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After Gaitonde studied medicine and surgery, he started his practice of medicine in Portugal. He met a Portuguese young woman named Edila Brum Dutra de Andrade.[7] Edila was born at the Faial Island of the Azores[8] and had studied music at the National Conservatory of Lisbon.[5] Pundalik and Edila decided to marry, but faced stiff opposition from their respective families. However, Pundalik's father later relented and granted permission. Pundalik and Edila married[9] in Lisbon and spent their honeymoon at Peniche.[5]

The reason why Gaitonde selected Peniche as the honeymoon destination was that Peniche was the location of the prison-fort where several activists of the Goa Liberation Movement such as Tristão de Bragança Cunha, Purushottam Kakodkar, Dr. Ram Hegde, José Inácio Candido de Loyola and Laxmikant Prabhu Bhembre were imprisoned. These prisoners organised a celebration in honour of Pundalik and Edila. They hosted a meal for the newly-weds. A woman journalist from France was on a visit to the prison in order to meet Tristão de Bragança Cunha. When she questioned Pundalik Gaitonde about why he had selected Peniche as the destination for the honeymoon, Dr. Gaitonde replied, "Homage to sacrifice!"[5]

Goa liberation movement

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On his return to Goa, then still a territory of Portugal in 1948, Pundalik Gaitonde was appointed Surgeon-Director of the Hospital dos Milagres in Mapusa, the main commercial town in North Goa.[citation needed] During this time, he was active in the underground activities of the National Congress (Goa) (NCG).[10]

On 1 January 1954, he attended a meeting of underground workers of the NCG, held at Sawantwadi. At this meeting, it was decided to restart the non-violent movement in Goa from 18 June 1954 (18 June is celebrated as Goa Revolution Day). He was also elected as the Chairman of the Executive Committee at this meeting.[10]

On 17 February 1954, while attending the farewell party of a Portuguese judge, Pundalik objected to the toast proposed by one of the invitees, saying "Eu protesto" (transl. "I protest"). This incident attracted the attention of both the Portuguese rulers, who were upset with him, and the nationalists, who were impressed. He was arrested the following day and deported to Portugal with his wife, Edila. He was then tried at the Lisbon High Court on 7 July 1954 and was sentenced to three months' imprisonment (including the detention period), or a fine of 40 Escudos per day in lieu of jail term. His civil rights were suspended for 12 years, andd he was placed under surveillance for five years, during which time he was to not leave Portugal or associate with anyone anti-Portuguese. The NCG then celebrated 17 February 1955 as the "First Gaitonde Day", organising satyagraha across Goa.[10]

He was released on 25 May 1955, returning to India on 14 June. He then settled in New Delhi. While there, he was tried in Goa by the TMT, who on 5 July 1955 sentenced him to 10 years rigorous imprisonment, a fine of 20 Escudos per day for two years and a suspension of his political rights for 15 years.[10]

He worked as the honorary senior surgeon at the Irwin Hospital, and was responsible for the creation of the Cancer Unit, which he headed.[citation needed]

In 1960, he was elected president of the NCG at its Bombay session. He was the secretary-general of the Conference of the Nationalist Organisations of the Portuguese Colonies at Casablanca in 1961. In that capacity, he visited several countries including the United States, Brazil, United Kingdom, Sweden and USSR, and was at the United Nations representing the case of Portuguese colonies in general and Goa in particular. While in the US, he met leaders like Norman Thomas. His campaigns lead to the Seminar on Portuguese Colonies organised in New Delhi, with the help of the Indian Council for Africa.[10]

Post-Liberation of Goa

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After the liberation of Goa from the Portuguese by India in 1961, he became the first nominated member of Parliament for Goa. He was also the Convenor for the Indian National Congress in Goa.[11] He later became a member of the Goa Planning Board.[citation needed] He subsequently lived in retirement in London,[10] and spent time on the study of the history of medicine and East-West relations during the sixteenth century.[citation needed] He wrote a book, Portuguese Pioneers in India - Spotlight in Medicine.[10]

Works

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  • Portuguese Pioneers in India - Spotlight in Medicine

References

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  1. ^ Statistical Report on General Elections, 1967 to the Fourth Lok Sabha (PDF) (Report). Vol. 1. Election Commission of India. 1968. p. 74. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Obituary: Pundlik Gaitonde". The Independent. 21 December 1992. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022.
  3. ^ Directorate of Printing, Government of India (20 June 1962). "Extraordinary Gazette of India, 1962, No. 241" – via Internet Archive.
  4. ^ "LS polls: Parties play the usual faith cards - Times of India". The Times of India. April 2009.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Komarpant, Somnath, ed. (April 2009). डॉ. पुंडलिक गायतोंडे: जीवनरेखा [Dr. Pundalik Gaitonde: Jeevanrekha] (in Marathi). Pune: Shivanand Gaitonde, Sateri Prakashan.
  6. ^ Tombat, Nishtha (1995). "Tristao de Braganza Cunha 1891-1958 and the Rise of Nationalist consciousness in Goa". Goa University: 194 – via Shodhganga.
  7. ^ "Faialense Edila Gaintonde merece uma distinção nos Açores e em Portugal".
  8. ^ "Thus always to tyrants". 25 November 2020. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021.
  9. ^ "Edila Gaitonde: Bringing alive trials, triumphs of Goans under the Portuguese | Goa News - Times of India". The Times of India. 8 June 2012. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Shirodkar, Pandurang Purushottam (1986). Who's Who of Freedom Fighters, Goa, Daman, and Diu. Vol. 1. Goa Gazetteer Department, Government of the Union Territory of Goa, Daman, and Diu. pp. 106–107.
  11. ^ Prabhudesai, Sandesh (March 2024). Double Engine: History of Goa Lok Sabha Elections. goanews.com. ISBN 9-789358-985627.

Further reading

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