Rajmohan Gandhi

Rajmohan Gandhi (1935, New Delhi, India) is a biographer and grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. His maternal grandfather was C. Rajagopalachari Rajaji, the first Indian Governor General of independent India and one of the foremost freedom fighters. Rajmohan's father was Devdas Gandhi, who was the Managing Editor of the "Daily Hindustan Times". A product of the Modern School in New Delhi, Rajmohan is a journalist and political activist. Gandhi, a research professor at the Centre for Policy Studies in New Delhi, India, has written widely on the Indian independence movement and its leaders, India-Pakistani relations, human rights and conflict resolution. He has held appointments as visiting professor in the United States and Japan and received honorary degrees from universities in Canada, Japan and the Kyrgyz Republic. Professor Gandhi also served as a member of the Upper House of India's Parliament and led the Indian government delegation to the U.N. Human Rights Commission annual meeting in Geneva.

He contested the Lok Sabha elections in 1989 but lost badly. After that, he was tipped to be I&B minister in V.P Singh's government in 1990 but he did not get the position much to his disappointment.

Professor Gandhi's biography of his grandfathers, "The Good Boatman: A Portrait of Gandhi," was published in 1995, and "Rajaji: A Life" of Chakravarti Rajagopalachari in 1997. Rajmohan Gandhi's scholarly record, however, extends beyond his lineage. His major publications includes a biography of Indian freedom fighter and statesman Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and "Eight Lives: A Study of the Hindu-Muslim Encounter." His latest work, "Revenge and Reconciliation: Understanding South Asian History," has just been published. His research interests include the history and current state of South Asia, Hindu-Muslim and India-Pakistan relations, and ethnic tensions and their resolution. His comprehensive biography of his grandfather, Mahatma Gandhi, was published in late 2006.

Rajmohan Gandhi has been actively involved with Initiatives of Change for the last several decades.

Rajmohan Gandhi is married to Usha. They have two children, Supriya and Devadatta.

He currently holds the position of visiting professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

External links

* [http://rediff.co.in/news/oct/31raj.htm Biographical Essay on C. Rajagopalachari] by Rajmohan Gandhi
* http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE7D9103BF93AA15753C1A96F948260