Rajmohan Gandhi (born 7 August 1935) is an Indian biographer, historian, politician and research professor at the Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies,

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

, US. His paternal grandfather is

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

, and his maternal grandfather is Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari. He is also a scholar in residence at the

Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (also known as IIT Gandhinagar or IITGN) is a Public university, public technical university located in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India. It has been declared to be an Institute of National Importance by th ...

. In 1989, he joined

Janata Dal Janata Dal () was an List of political parties in India, Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Lok Dal, Indian National Congress (Jagjivan), and the Jan Morcha on 11 October 1988—the birth anniversary of Jayaprakash Na ...

and unsuccessfully contested against

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian statesman and pilot who served as the prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the Assassination of Indira Gandhi, assassination of his mother, then–prime ...

. In 2014, he joined the

Aam Aadmi Party The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP, ) is a List of political parties in India, political party in India. It was founded on 26 November 2012 by Arvind Kejriwal and his then-companions, following the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement against then gover ...

. He contested from the East Delhi constituency and lost.

Early life

Rajmohan Gandhi was born 7 August 1935 in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

, to Devdas and Lakshmi Gandhi. His father was the managing editor of the ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

''. Rajmohan Gandhi attended St. Stephen's College. His maternal grandfather was C. Rajagopalachari, the last Governor General of India (succeeding Lord Louis Mountbatten), who was one of the foremost associates of Mahatma Gandhi.

Career

Academic career and activism

In the 1960s and early 1970s, Gandhi played a leading role in establishing Asia Plateau, the conference centre of Initiatives of Change in Panchgani, in the mountains of western India. In 2002, Gandhi received the Sahitya Akademi Award for ''Rajaji: A Life, a Biography of

Chakravarti Rajagopalachari Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (10 December 1878 – 25 December 1972), popularly known as Rajaji or C.R., also known as Mootharignar Rajaji (Rajaji'', the Scholar Emeritus''), was an Indian statesman, writer, lawyer, and Indian independence ...

(1878–1972)'', about his maternal grandfather, a leading figure in India's independence movement.Se
"Discussion of Modern South India: A History from the 17th Century to Our Times"
His other works include '' Ghaffar Khan: Nonviolent Badshah of the Pakhtuns'' (Penguin 2004); ''Revenge & Reconciliation: Understanding South Asian History'' (Penguin, 1999); ''Patel: A Life, a Biography of

Vallabhbhai Patel Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (; ''Vallabhbhāī Jhāverbhāī Paṭel''; 31 October 1875 – 15 December 1950), commonly known as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, was an Indian independence activist and statesman who served as the first Deputy Prime ...

(1875–1950)'', Deputy Prime Minister of India, 1947-50 (Navajivan, Ahmedabad, 1990); and ''Eight Lives: A Study of the Hindu-Muslim Encounter'' (SUNY, 1987). One of his earlier books, ''The Good Boatman: A Portrait of Gandhi'', was published in 2009 in a Chinese translation in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. Most recently, Gandhi has published a book titled, ''Punjab'' (Aleph Book Company 2013), which is a historical account of undivided

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

, from the death of

Aurangzeb Alamgir I (Muhi al-Din Muhammad; 3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, also called Aurangzeb the Conqueror, was the sixth Mughal emperors, Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707, becomi ...

to the Partition. Before teaching at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

, he served as a

research professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a 'person who professes'. Professors ...

with the

think-tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

Centre for Policy Research The Centre for Policy Research (CPR) is an Indian think tank focusing on public policy. Established in 1973 and located in New Delhi, it is one of the national social science research institutes recognized by the Indian Council of Social Scie ...

. From 1985 to 1987, he edited the daily ''

Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language India, Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the Indian Express Limited, ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnat ...

'' in

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

(now

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

). In 2004 he received the International Humanitarian Award (Human Rights) from the city of

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in ...

, and in 1997, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of law from the

University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...

, and an honorary doctorate of philosophy from Obirin University, Tokyo. He currently serves as a Jury Member for the Nuremberg International Human Rights Award and co-chair of the Centre for Dialogue & Reconciliation in

Gurgaon Gurgaon (), officially named Gurugram (), is a satellite city of Delhi and administrative headquarters of Gurgaon district, located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about southwest ...

. In 2019 he was a contributor to ''A New Divan: A Lyrical Dialogue Between East and West'' (Gingko Library). In 2018, he opposed the partition of the British India at the

Oxford Union The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest unive ...

and said, “To welcome Partition is to imply that people with different backgrounds and different blood-lines cannot live together in one nation. A regressive suggestion.” He opined that "The corollary that those possessing a common religion or common race enjoy blissful companionship in their homes, nations or regions is, well, hilarious." He holds that "tyranny was multiplied by partition". Gandhi further believes that "India belongs to all who live in it."

Politics

In 1989, Gandhi unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha election from

against

in Amethi. He served (1990–92) in the

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

(the upper house of the Indian Parliament) and led the Indian delegation to the

UN Human Rights Commission The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission within the United Nations System, overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006. It was a ...

in Geneva in 1990. In the Indian Parliament he was the convener of the all-party joint committee of both houses addressing the condition of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. On 21 February 2014, he joined the

. He contested the 2014 general election from the East Delhi constituency and lost.

Personal life

Rajmohan Gandhi is married to Usha. They have two children.

References

External links

Rajmohan Gandhi's website
* Crossette, Barbara

Special to ''The New York Times'' Sunday, 29 October 1989 * Gandhi, Rajmohan

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gandhi, Rajmohan 1935 births Aam Aadmi Party candidates in the 2014 Indian general election Aam Aadmi Party politicians Delhi politicians Janata Dal politicians Living people Rajmohan Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in English St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty 20th-century Indian historians