Freedom Fighter Ramakant Damodar Kesarkar, who played a vital role in the Goa liberation movement, passed away on Friday. He was 84. His body was cremated at the Hindu Sabha cemetery in Mathgram
Opposition leader Digambar Kamat, Freedom fighter Vaman Prabhugavkar, Avinash Shirodkar and others were present to pay their last respects.
Kesarkar is survived by two sons and two daughters.
Kesarkar was born in 1937. While still a student, he became an active member in the Goa liberation in 1954 and fought for the libration alongside Urselin Almeida and Vishnu Kesarkar.
He also participated in the Satyagraha movement in Margao on 15th August 1955 along with Anand Bhise, Vishnu Kesarkar, Shashi Bondre and Mohan Sawal. He was arrested by the police and detained for two days.
Kesarkar was active in this liberation struggle till 1961. He used to attend strategic camps organised by Peter Alvarez at Angadi Karwar to plan for the movement. When Portuguese police found out about his intentions, they raided his house four times to arrest him. However, he could not be apprehended as he stayed underground to avoid arrest.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant took to Twitter to mourn the demise of the veteran leader. Sharing a photo, he wrote, "My deepest condolences on the sad demise of Freedom Fighter #RamakantDamodarKesarkar. He will always be remembered for his contribution to Goa's Freedom Struggle. Om Shanti."
Leader of opposition Digambar Kamat also paid tributes to Kesarkar earlier in the day.