Hindusthan Samachar
Sanat Kumar Banerjee, former editor of Swastika, the popular Bengali weekly, passed away in Kolkata on September 2 at his Salt Lake residence. He was 76. He had been keeping unwell for the last few months. His both lungs had become inactive. He is survived by his wife and children.
Sanat Da, as he was popularly known, had come to Bengal from Bhopal in 1949 as a Sangh Pracharak on the advice of the then Kshetriya Pracharak, Eknath Ranade. He had worked as Pracharak in Cooch Behar, Navdwip and central Kolkata. He was entrusted the task of editorship of Swastika at the age of 26 in 1954 and since then he remained editor and publisher continuously for 50 years. Swastika also has completed its 57 years of existence on this Janmashtami, celebrated on September 7. He had guided a number of journalists during the past five decades. One of those journalists later became a member of the Press Commission and one was honoured with the Nachiketa Samman.
Sanat Dada was also associated with several daily newspapers like Yugdharma, Swadesh and Tarun Bharat. He was sent to jail for writing in Swastika but was later released. He was paid rich tributes by local Swayamsevaks and also the workers of Bharatiya Janata Party, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Sanskar Bharati and several other organisations at a condolence meeting held on September 9. Paying his tributes, Shri Jyotirmaya Chakravarti, Kshetriya Pracharak said that whatsoever responsibility Sanat Dada was given by the Sangh adhikaris, he discharged it with full confidence and sincerity. He was a good organiser and always had a smiling face.
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