Senior Socialist Leader and Yukrand Founder Dr Kumar Saptarshi Dies in Pune at 84
Senior socialist leader, former MLA, and founder-president of Yuvak Kranti Dal (Yukrand) Dr. Kumar Saptarshi passed away in Pune on Saturday. He was 84 years old.
Saptarshi was a highly influential figure in Maharashtra's social justice movements, having spent decades advocating for the rights of Dalits, backward classes, and marginalized communities.
Born on August 21, 1941, Saptarshi began his public life under the leadership of Jayprakash Narayan in Gaya, Bihar, where he operated a help centre for drought-affected people. He later founded Yukrand in November 1967.
The organization became central to Maharashtra's social justice movement, aggressively tackling caste discrimination and collaborating on joint agitations with the Dalit Panther. Yukrand served as a launchpad for numerous young individuals who subsequently became prominent political leaders, journalists, and authors.
An MBBS doctor by training, Saptarshi practiced medicine in Pune from 1969 until 1974. He was at the forefront of several successful state-wide student agitations against medical tuition fee hikes. In 1972, he faced arrest under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during a medical student protest, marking one of the earliest uses of the act.
In 1974, Saptarshi relocated to the "Rashin Commune" in the erstwhile Ahmadnagar district, which became the hub of his activist initiatives. He was also active in the movement to rename Marathwada University to Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar University.
During the Emergency, Saptarshi worked underground for three months before being jailed from October 1975 to January 1977. Following his release, he joined the Janata Party in 1977 and successfully contested the Maharashtra assembly elections from the Ahmadnagar constituency. Over the course of his activist career, Saptarshi was arrested a total of 35 times.
Tributes poured in from across the political spectrum. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis condoled his death, describing Saptarshi as a selfless leader of Maharashtra's social change movement, a Gandhian activist, and a source of inspiration for rural development, education, and social transformation.
Maharashtra Congress president Harshavardhan Sapkal also expressed his condolences, stating that Saptarshi's passing is a major loss to the state's social, intellectual, and progressive movements, calling him a true follower of Gandhian thought who raised his voice for democratic values.
