Rajmohan Gandhi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Rajmohan Gandhi
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Gandhi in 1960
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| Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 1990-92 |
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| Constituency | Uttar Pradesh |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 7 August 1935 New Delhi, British India |
| Political party | Aam Aadmi Party |
| Other political affiliations |
Janata Dal |
| Spouse | Usha Gandhi |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent |
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| Relatives | Ramchandra Gandhi (brother) Gopalkrishna Gandhi (brother) Mahatma Gandhi (paternal grandfather) Kasturba Gandhi (paternal grandmother) C. Rajagopalachari (maternal grandfather) |
| Occupation | Biographer, journalist, politician |
| Awards | International Humanitarian Award (human rights) |
Rajmohan Gandhi (born August 7, 1935) is an Indian writer, historian, and politician. He is a research professor at the University of Illinois in the US. He is famous for being the grandson of two very important leaders in India's history. His paternal grandfather was Mahatma Gandhi, a leader who helped India gain independence. His maternal grandfather was C. Rajagopalachari, another key figure in India's freedom movement. Rajmohan Gandhi also teaches at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar.
In 1989, he joined a political party called Janata Dal. He ran for elections but did not win. Later, in 2014, he joined the Aam Aadmi Party and ran for elections again, but he lost.
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Early Life and Family
Rajmohan Gandhi was born on August 7, 1935, in New Delhi, India. His parents were Devdas Gandhi and Lakshmi Gandhi. His father, Devdas, was the managing editor of a newspaper called the Hindustan Times.
Rajmohan Gandhi went to St. Stephen's College. His maternal grandfather, C. Rajagopalachari, was the last Governor General of India. He was a very close friend and helper of Mahatma Gandhi.
Rajmohan Gandhi's Career
Writing and Teaching
In the 1960s and early 1970s, Rajmohan Gandhi helped start Asia Plateau. This is a conference center in Panchgani, India, for a group called Initiatives of Change.
In 2002, he won the Sahitya Akademi Award. This award was for his book Rajaji: A Life. The book was a biography about his maternal grandfather, Chakravarti Rajagopalachari. Rajaji was a very important leader in India's fight for independence.
Rajmohan Gandhi has written many other books. These include Ghaffar Khan: Nonviolent Badshah of the Pakhtuns and Revenge & Reconciliation: Understanding South Asian History. He also wrote Patel: A Life, which is about Vallabhbhai Patel, India's first Deputy Prime Minister. Another book is Eight Lives: A Study of the Hindu-Muslim Encounter. His book The Good Boatman: A Portrait of Gandhi was translated into Chinese in 2009. More recently, he wrote Punjab in 2013. This book tells the history of the region of Punjab before it was divided.
Before teaching at the University of Illinois, he worked at a research center in New Delhi. From 1985 to 1987, he was the editor of the Indian Express newspaper in Madras (now Chennai).
Awards and Recognition
Rajmohan Gandhi has received several awards for his work. In 2004, he got the International Humanitarian Award for human rights. This award was from the city of Champaign, Illinois. In 1997, he received honorary doctorates from the University of Calgary and Obirin University in Tokyo.
He is also a jury member for the Nuremberg International Human Rights Award. He helps lead the Centre for Dialogue & Reconciliation in Gurgaon. In 2019, he contributed to a book called A New Divan: A Lyrical Dialogue Between East and West.
Views on History
In 2018, Rajmohan Gandhi spoke at the Oxford Union. He talked about the division of British India. He said that welcoming the Partition suggests that people from different backgrounds cannot live together. He believes that "India belongs to all who live in it."
Political Journey
In 1989, Rajmohan Gandhi ran for the Lok Sabha election. This is one of the houses of the Indian Parliament. He was part of the Janata Dal party. He ran against Rajiv Gandhi but did not win.
From 1990 to 1992, he served in the Rajya Sabha. This is the upper house of the Indian Parliament. In 1990, he led India's group to the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva. In the Indian Parliament, he worked on a committee that looked after the conditions of certain groups of people in India.
On February 21, 2014, he joined the Aam Aadmi Party. He ran in the 2014 general election from the East Delhi area but lost.
Personal Life
Rajmohan Gandhi is married to Usha Gandhi. They have two children.
