Odisha News Times News Of Odisha For Odisha
Bhubaneswar:14/4/20: Veteran trade union leader, writer and columnist Souribandhu Kar died at a hospital in Bhubaneswar following a brief illness, family sources said. He was 72 and survived by his wife, three sons and a daughter. His elder son Soubhagya is an Indian Information Service officer posted in New Delhi. His second son Sidharth is a lawyer while daughter Supriya is a translator.
Kar, who was the general secretary of the Odisha unit of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), was undergoing treatment at a private hospital where he died on Monday night, known from a family source. People from different walks of life, including many Left leaders, mourned his death. CPI state unit secretary Asish Kanungo and CPI (M) leader Janardan Pati condoled Kar’s death, terming it “a great loss for the trade union movement”.
One of the prominent trade union leaders in Odisha, Kar was actively involved in the Left movement for many years. A well-known CPI leader from the state, he was associated with movements seeking to safeguard the interests of industrial workers, farm labourers and bank employees.
He had also raised his voice against child labour and fought for eliminating social evil. Kar, who worked in a bank also authored several books in different genres such as biographies (Manabatara Mahan Tirtha, Paramhansa Ramakrushna & Rashtranirmata Nehru), short story- collections (Nisprabha Ekalabya, Narottama Sadangira Diary), children’s literature (Deshapremi Swami Vivekananda, Babasaheb Ambedkar), prose (Vedantara Swara) and novels (Pratidhwani & Echharama Putra). He won several awards and recognitions including the prestigious Odisha Sahitya Academy award in 2012 for’Manabatara Mahan Tirtha’.
Kar was born at Jalasarapur village in Jajpur district. His younger brother Bauribandhu Kar was formerly Professor of Odia at Berhampur University.
