https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Placid_D%27MelloPlacid D'Mello - Revision history2026-10-27T22:39:41ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Placid_D%27Mello&diff=525694&oldid=prev99notes: started a details - done2026-03-18T08:42:32Z<p>started a details - done</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Indian trade union leader}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2024}}<br />
{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Placid D’Mello<br />
| image = Placid D’Mello.jpg<br />
| birth_date = 1919<br />
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1958|03|20|1919}}<br />
| death_place = [[Kolkata|Calcutta]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]]<br />
}}<br />
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'''Placid D'Mello''' (1919 – 20 March 1958) was an Indian trade union leader. He was the founder of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Mazdoor Union (MMU), [[Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport|BEST]] workers union and [[All India Port and Dock Workers Federation]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-02-20 |title=A fierce union leader who showed the way to thousands of dock workers |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/a-fierce-union-leader-who-showed-the-way-to-thousands-of-dock-workers-4533674/ |access-date=2023-03-05 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=THE FATE OF MAN - The gradual decline of a hero who once could do no wrong |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/the-fate-of-man-the-gradual-decline-of-a-hero-who-once-could-do-no-wrong/cid/621342 |access-date=2023-03-05 |website=www.telegraphindia.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-12-04 |title=Mumbai's last prominent union falls apart; senior Mazdoor Union leaders to form separate outfit |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/mumbai-s-last-prominent-union-falls-apart-senior-mazdoor-union-leaders-to-form-separate-outfit/story-bTBTLwZYgf6G5YyyvPHUZJ.html |access-date=2023-03-05 |website=Hindustan Times |language=en}}</ref><br />
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== Career ==<br />
D'Mello came to [[Bombay]] in 1936 and took the job of tally clerk at a stevedore company. Later, as a leader of dock workers, he demanded a war bonus owing to greater profits and an end to casual employment.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ramagundam |first=Rahul |title=The Life and Times of George Fernandes |publisher=Penguin Random House India |year=2022 |isbn=978-0670092888 |pages=88–89 |language=en}}</ref> Enraged by shoddy working conditions, D'Mello started organising dock workers in the early 1940's and became a working member of the Socialist Party faction led by Lohia and JP. D'Mello was also marshalling the Socialist base in Southern India mainly in his hometown of South Kanara, through his links with noted Coastal Canarian Socialist and Freedon fighter [[Ammembala Balappa]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dsouza|first=Chris Emmanuel |title=Bandh Samrat - Tales of Eternal Rebel |publisher=Cleverfox Publications Bangalore |isbn=978-9356480810 |pages= 11–12 |language=en}}</ref><br />
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In 1949, D'Mello was arrested under Bombay Public Security Act and externed from [[Bombay]]. In April 1949, he arrived in [[Mangalore]] where he met [[George Fernandes]]. George used to considered D'Mello as his mentor.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ramagundam |first=Rahul |title=The Life and Times of George Fernandes |publisher=Penguin Random House India |year=2022 |isbn=978-0670092888 |pages=89–91}}</ref><br />
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On 22 February 1950, a motorman strike was called in [[South Canara]] which lasted for seven days. But on the night the strike began, D'Mello was arrested under Preventive Detention Act and was jailed in [[Vellore]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ramagundam |first=Rahul |title=The Life and Times of George Fernandes |publisher=Penguin Random House India |year=2022 |isbn=978-0670092888 |pages=92 |language=en}}</ref> He was released on 6 October 1950 and returned to [[Bombay]] where he was received by around five-thousand dockers at [[Victoria Terminus]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ramagundam |first=Rahul |title=The Life and Times of George Fernandes |publisher=Penguin Random House India |year=2022 |isbn=978-0670092888 |pages=100 |language=en}}</ref><br />
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On 31 August 1951, D'Mello was arrested again along with other senior leaders like S. R. Kulkarni. While still in jail, he was put up as a candidate by [[Socialist Party (India, 1948)|Socialist Party]] in 1951 Bombay assembly election for Mazagaon Ghodapdeo constituency. He received 34.99% of the total votes polled, but lost.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bombay 1951 |url=https://old.eci.gov.in/files/file/4107-bombay-1951/ |website=Election Commission of India}}</ref> After one year of arrest, two-hundred dock workers led by [[George Fernandes]] walked from [[Bombay]] to [[Poona]] to meet Chief Minister [[Morarji Desai]] for the release of D'Mello. He was released in March 1953, after eighteen months of imprisonment.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ramagundam |first=Rahul |title=The Life and Times of George Fernandes |publisher=Penguin Random House India |year=2022 |isbn=978-0670092888 |pages=102 |language=en}}</ref><br />
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== Death ==<br />
Placid D’Mello died on 20 March 1958, at the age of thirty-nine, in [[Calcutta]]. He was buried at [[Sewri Christian Cemetery]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ramagundam |first=Rahul |title=The Life and Times of George Fernandes |publisher=Penguin Random House India |year=2022 |isbn=978-0670092888 |pages=122 |language=en}}</ref><br />
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== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Mello, Placid}}<br />
[[Category:1919 births]]<br />
[[Category:1958 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Trade unionists from Maharashtra]]<br />
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