PANAJI
Centurion Lambert Mascarenhas, writer and freedom fighter, who operated a newspaper dedicated to Goa's freedom struggle, died at his Dona Paula residence on Sunday.
He was 106 and is survived by wife Dr Jolly Mascarenhas, daughters Nayantara, Ameeta, Anjali and son Jude, grandchildren and great-granddaughter Zara.
Mascarenhas was a prominent journalist in post-Liberation Goa and was joint editor of The Navhind Times when it launched in the early 1960s soon after liberation.
He was conferred the Padma Shree by the government of India while the State government had awarded him the Gomant Vibhushan. In 2004, he was awarded the Laxmidas Borkar Memorial Award for his contribution to the field of journalism.
Mascarenhas has also authored books including the critically acclaimed "Sorrowing lies my land."
His other books -- ‘In the Womb of Saudade’, ‘Heartbreak Passage’, ‘The First City’ and ‘The Greater Tragedy’ -- are much read and still in demand.
Born on September 17, 1914, in Goa, Mascarenhas was educated in Pune and Mumbai at St Xavier’s College.
His career as a journalist began in Mumbai with the ‘Morning Standard’ and later he worked as a sub-editor at the ‘Bombay Sentinel’ and as an assistant editor at ‘Onlooker’.
He edited ‘Goan Tribute’ which exposed the cause of Goa’s liberation. He wrote numerous articles against the Portuguese colonial regime in Goa and caught the attention of both the Indian leaders as well as the Portuguese rulers.
While on a visit to Goa, he was arrested and jailed by the Portuguese for his articles and later was released on bail and expelled.
Upon his return to Goa in 1961, he joined as the editor of ‘Navhind Times’ and later established and edited ‘Goa Today’.
