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By:

Vinod Chavan

30 September 2025 at 3:04:23 pm

Architect of ‘Latur Pattern’ passes away

Dr Janardan Waghmare With the passing of Dr Janardan Waghmare on Monday (2 March) at the age of 91, Maharashtra has lost one of its brightest intellectuals. The architect of the famed ‘Latur Pattern’, Dr Waghmare was an eminent thinker, educationist, author and critic. Besides being the founder Vice-Chancellor of Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University in Nanded, Dr Waghmare was a former Member of Parliament, the only directly elected President of Latur Municipal Council, a lifelong...

Architect of ‘Latur Pattern’ passes away

Dr Janardan Waghmare With the passing of Dr Janardan Waghmare on Monday (2 March) at the age of 91, Maharashtra has lost one of its brightest intellectuals. The architect of the famed ‘Latur Pattern’, Dr Waghmare was an eminent thinker, educationist, author and critic. Besides being the founder Vice-Chancellor of Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University in Nanded, Dr Waghmare was a former Member of Parliament, the only directly elected President of Latur Municipal Council, a lifelong member of Yashwantrao Chavan Pratishthan, and a member of Nanded Education Society (established by Swami Ramanand Teerth). Dr Waghmare passed away after a brief illness. With his death, Marathi intellectual and literary discourse has lost a radiant beacon. Dr Waghmare’s life was a testament to the saying that education lends fulfilment to life and nobility to character. His was a life enriched by relentless reading, reflection, scholarship, teaching, authorship, philosophical inquiry and critical thought. Early life and education Born on 11 November 1934 in Janwal village in Chakur Taluka in Latur District, Dr Janardan Waghmare grew up in modest surroundings. His father, Madhavrao Waghmare, was a farmer and ensured that young Janardan received education at home by appointing a private tutor. He later joined the government school in Latur, where he studied alongside Shivraj Patil, the man who later in life was to become Union Home Minister. Their friendship lasted decades. Waghmare completed matriculation from Marwadi Rajasthan Vidyalaya at a time when Urdu was the medium of instruction. Collegiate education took him to Hyderabad. He bagged first prize in the All-India Hindi Elocution Competition while at Nizam College in 1955. His achievement was personally acknowledged by then President Rajendra Prasad, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Defence Minister V K Krishna Menon. He earned a BA from Osmania University. He then pursued a Master’s in English Language and Literature in 1959 from Pune University (now Savitribai Phule Pune University). Career, further studies, personal life After his Master’s, Waghmare worked as a teacher at Shivchhatrapati College in Omerga and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar College in Aurangabad (now Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar). He pursued an LLB degree. Raised with Arya Samaj values, Waghmare married Sulochana, daughter of Manikrao Arya (Jadhav). It was an inter-caste marriage, a progressive step at the time. He completed his MA in English Language and Literature in 1959 from Pune University (now Savitribai Phule University, Pune), and soon began his teaching career. After serving at Shivchhatrapati College in Omerga and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar College in Aurangabad (Chh Sambhajinagar), he also pursued an LLB degree. He took on a transformative responsibility in 1970 and became the first Principal of Rajarshi Shahu College, which was founded to educate students from marginalised communities. Under his visionary leadership, the college rose to prominence as a centre of academic excellence and social transformation. The Latur Pattern It was during his tenure that the famed ‘Latur Pattern’, a rigorous, disciplined, results-oriented approach to education, took shape and gained nationwide recognition. In his 25 years of work as Principal (1970–1994), he shaped the careers of thousands of students. Literary work He served as Principal for 25 years (1970–1994), shaping thousands of students who went on to distinguished careers in India and abroad. Dr Waghmare was equally distinguished in literature. His first book, American Negro: Literature and Culture  (1978), was widely acclaimed, even drawing praise from celebrated writer P L Deshpande in Maharashtra Times . Over his lifetime, he authored 75 books, including works in English and Hindi, covering politics, society, philosophy, autobiography ( A Handful of Soil ), and biographies such as Sharad Pawar: Personality, Leadership and Achievement . Many of his works received prestigious awards. His writing and activism reflected deep engagement with India’s Dalit movement, and he also enthralled audiences through Hindi poetry. He became the founder Vice-Chancellor of Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, Nanded. He laid a strong foundation and initiated several significant reforms, including ‘caste-free village’, a model developed through National Sevagram initiatives. Political life His tenure as directly elected President of Latur Municipal Council in 2001 was marked by a firm anti-corruption stance and transparency. The council won first prize in the Maharashtra Sant Gadge Baba Urban Cleanliness Campaign. Sharad Pawar nominated Dr Waghmare to the Rajya Sabha, an honour befitting his stature. As a Member of Parliament, he served on key committees, including Human Resource Development and Defence. In 2009, he was part of the Indian parliamentary delegation to the United Nations, where he addressed representatives from 150 nations on global peace, earning admiration for his eloquence. Dr Waghmare received numerous state and national honours, including the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Dalit Mitra Award (1994) from the Government of Maharashtra. He presided over multiple major Marathi literary meets, including the 38th Marathwada Literary Meet in 2016, and chaired the International Hindi Literary Seminar organised by Sant Kabir Pratishthan in 2017. (The writer is a journalist based in Latur. Views personal.)

People praise Army for protecting

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah interacts with displaced border residents at a shelter camp.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah interacts with displaced border residents at a shelter camp.

Garkhal (J&K): Men and machines of the armed forces worked meticulously to ensure the interception of Kamikaze drones and missiles fired by Pakistani troops targeting Jammu, drawing widespread appreciation from people.


India on Thursday night swiftly thwarted Pakistan's fresh attempts to strike military sites with drones and missiles, including in Jammu and Pathankot, after foiling similar bids at 15 locations across the country's northern and western regions, amid a military conflict between the two neighbours.


Looking after the operational area of Jammu under the command of the 9 Corps, the 26 Infantry Division, nicknamed the "Tiger Division", had put in place a robust air-defence system, virtually carving out an Israel-type Iron Dome to protect Jammu from a Hamas-style attack by Pakistan.


An official who was privy to the developments said it was a meticulous combination of men and machines in defence that thwarted such a massive Pakistani attack.


In the dead of night, Pakistan unleashed its most audacious assault on Jammu since the 1971 war, deploying a swarm of more than a hundred Kamikaze drones and missiles in a sinister attempt to devastate the city. But what followed was a show of unmatched precision, courage and resilience.


"We are indebted to our armed forces who have saved Jammu from a major attack by Pakistan. We appreciate them for their missionary work. We never thought these bombs could be neutralised in the air," Garkhal resident Sikender Singh said.


Singh, whose family, along with more than 500 villagers, has shifted to safer camps set up by the government in Mishriwala on the Jammu outskirts, said had the bombs not been intercepted, they could have caused massive deaths and destruction.


Finest system

The Army, backed by one of the world's finest air-defence systems, intercepted the aerial barrage with astonishing accuracy -- virtually every hostile object was destroyed mid-air. Not a single vital installation was touched. Not a single civilian life was lost.


"Eight missiles from Pakistan were directed at Satwari, Samba, R S Pura and Arnia. All were intercepted and blocked by air-defence units. Visuals over Jammu reminded exactly of a Hamas-style attack on Israel, like multiple cheap rockets," an Army official said.


He said the Pakistan Army is operating and behaving like Hamas. "Drones were sighted at multiple places along the western front -- confirmed to be hostile. They are being effectively engaged by our air-defence systems. Pakistani drone attacks have been reported at various locations along the western borders and are being effectively countered by the Indian armed forces," he added.


The multi-tier air-defence system, with a twin technological security architecture of Russian and Israeli surface-to-air missile setups and the indigenous Akash, was a game changer against such attacks.


Former Jammu and Kashmir director general of police S P Vaid appreciated the armed forces and their technological security systems for effectively dealing with the Pakistani attacks.


He said 50 to 60 air attacks by Pakistan over Jammu and other places were neutralised on Thursday night by the impregnable air-defence system of the country.


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