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Arun Gandhi | |
|---|---|
 2012 | |
| Born | Arun Manilal Gandhi (1934-04-14)14 April 1934 |
| Died | 2 May 2023(2023-05-02) (aged 89) Kolhapur,Maharashtra, India |
| Citizenship | American |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2, includingTushar |
| Parent(s) | Manilal Gandhi Sushila Mashruwala |
| Relatives | Ela Gandhi (sister) Mahatma Gandhi (grandfather) Kasturba Gandhi (grandmother) |
Arun Manilal Gandhi (14 April 1934 – 2 May 2023) was aSouth African–American author, socio-political activist, and son ofManilal Gandhi, thus a grandson of Indian independence leaderMahatma Gandhi.[1] In 2017, he publishedThe Gift of Anger: And Other Lessons From My Grandfather Mahatma Gandhi (New York: Gallery Books/Jeter Publishing 2017).[1]
Arun Gandhi criticized theIndian government in an article he wrote after they subsidized a1982 film based on his grandfather's life with $25 million. He immigrated to theUnited States with his family in 1987, and studied at theUniversity of Mississippi. They later moved toMemphis, Tennessee, where they founded the M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, hosted by theChristian Brothers University.
Arun Manilal Gandhi was born on 14 April 1934, inDurban, toManilal Gandhi and Sushila Mashruwala. His father was an editor and his mother was a publisher for theIndian Opinion. Arun had seen his grandfatherMahatma Gandhi once briefly at age 5 and didn't see him again until 1946 when he lived with Mahatma Gandhi at theSevagramashram inIndia. Arun returned to theUnion of South Africa in 1947, just weeks before his grandfather wasassassinated.[2]
While living atSevagram, Arun had the advantage of education over the illiterate farm families who worked the surrounding fields. His grandfather urged him to play with the neighboring children after school in order to "learn what it was like to live in poverty", as well as to teach those children what he learned in class each day, which Arun Gandhi later described as "the most creative and enlightening experience for me." Eventually, crowds of children and their parents started showing up for lessons with the young Gandhi, which taught him compassion and the need to share.[3]
In 1982, whenColumbia Pictures released the feature film,Gandhi, based on his grandfather's life, Gandhi wrote an article criticizing the Indian government for subsidizing the film with $25 million, arguing that there were more important things to spend such money on. Though his article was widely reprinted and celebrated, after attending a special screening of the film, Gandhi included that it accurately conveyed his grandfather's philosophy and legacy (despite its historical inaccuracies), and was so moved by it that he wrote another article retracting the first one.[4]
In 1987, Arun Gandhi moved to the United States along with his wife, Sunanda, to work on a study at theUniversity of Mississippi. This study examined and contrasted the sorts of prejudices that existed in India, the U.S., and South Africa. Afterward, they moved toMemphis, Tennessee, and founded the M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence hosted by theChristian Brothers University, aCatholic academic institution. This institute was dedicated to applying the principles ofnonviolence at both local and global scales. As co-founders of the institute, both husband and wife received the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award "for bringing the legacy of Gandhi to America"[5] which was awarded at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston. In 1996, he cofounded theSeason for Nonviolence as a yearly celebration of the philosophies and lives of Mohandas Gandhi andMartin Luther King Jr.[6][7]
In 2003, Gandhi was one of the signatories toHumanism and Its Aspirations (Humanist Manifesto III).[8] In late 2007, Gandhi co-taught a course entitled "Gandhi on Personal Leadership and Nonviolence" atSalisbury University inSalisbury, Maryland.[9] On 12 November 2007, Gandhi gave a lecture for the Salisbury University Center for Conflict Resolution's "One Person Can Make a Difference" Lecture Series, entitled "Nonviolence in the Age of Terrorism".[10] In late 2008, Gandhi returned to Salisbury University to co-teach a course entitled "The Global Impact of Gandhi".[11]
In 2007, after the passing of his wifeSunanda Gandhi on 21 February, the institute moved toRochester, New York, and is currently located on theUniversity of Rochester River Campus.[12] After January 2008 op-ed inThe Washington Post's "On Faith" section where Gandhi said that Israelis talked too much about the Holocaust and were losing world sympathy and that Israel and the U.S. were the biggest contributors to the world-threatening "culture of violence", his ties to Rochester were imperiled. He claimed that dwelling on the past wouldn't allow them to move forward. Gandhi apologized by saying he had only meant to sayright-wingLikud supporters were part of the problem, but the university did not accept his explanation and informed him that the institute would be closed unless he resigned from it.
Gandhi had given many speeches about nonviolence in many countries. During his tour toIsrael, he urged thePalestinian people to resistIsraeli occupation peacefully to assure their freedom. In August 2004, Gandhi proposed to thePalestinian Parliament a peaceful march of 50,000 refugees across theJordan River to return to their homeland and said MPs should lead the way. Gandhi also claimed that the fate of Palestinians is ten times worse than that ofblack people inapartheidSouth Africa. He asked: "What would happen? Maybe the Israeli army would shoot and kill several. They may kill 100. They may kill 200 men, women and children. And that would shock the world. The world will get up and say, 'What is going on?'."[13]
On 12 October 2009 Gandhi visited theBrunton Theatre inMusselburgh to talk to P7's from all over East Lothian in Scotland.[citation needed] On 11 November 2009 Gandhi visited Chattanooga State Technical Community College in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to speak and spread his message of peace.[14] On 13 November 2009, Gandhi visited Cleveland State Community College inCleveland, Tennessee, to speak and spread his message of peace. On 16 November 2010, Gandhi visited The University of Wyoming inLaramie, Wyoming, to speak and spread his message of peace.[15]
On 2 March 2011, Arun Gandhi spoke at the East West Center on the campus of theUniversity of Hawaii at Manoa,Honolulu, inHawaii, where he delivered the speech "Nonviolence: A Means for Social Change". On the same day, he also spoke atIolani School in Honolulu, where he delivered the speech "The Wisdom of Choosing Peace". On 3 March 2011, Gandhi spoke at the University of Hawaii Architecture Building, in an event sponsored by the Spark Matsunaga Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution in Honolulu, Hawaii. On 4 March 2011 spoke at thePacific Buddhist Academy in Honolulu, Hawaii. He also spoke at theHawaii State Capitol (public auditorium) on the subject of "The Power of Peace to Create a Culture of Human Rights in Hawaii and the World". This was part of the Human Rights Week, sponsored by the State of Hawaii. He also spoke at the Pioneer Plaza Club in downtown Honolulu on the subject of "Gandhian Peace (Nonviolence) A Pathway for Resolving Modern Day Conflict". On 5 March 2011, Gandhi visitedThe International Society for Krishna Consciousness Temple in Honolulu, Hawaii, to speak and spread his message of peace. He also spoke at To Ho No Hikari Church in Honolulu, in an event sponsored byDr. Terry Shintani, on the subject of "The Way of Nonviolence Towards All Living Beings", and at theHawaii Convention Center as part of the PAAAC Youth Conference. On 6 March 2011 Gandhi spoke at Unity Church, Diamond Head, Honolulu, on the subject of "Lessons I Learned With My Grandfather".[16]
Gandhi's 2011 tour of Honolulu was sponsored by Barbara Altemus of the We Are One Foundation and by the Gandhian International Institute for Peace. Gandhi is featured in "THE CALLING: Heal Ourselves Heal our Planet" a Documentary Film in Production created by Barbara Altemus, directed by Oscar-nominatedWilliam Gazecki.[17]
On 23 March 2012, Gandhi was the keynote speaker at the first annual Engaging Peace Conference atArcadia University inGlenside, Pennsylvania.[18]
In March 2014, Atheneum Books for Young Readers publishedGrandfather Gandhi, a children's book that Arun Gandhi co-authored with Bethany Hegedus, and illustrated by Evan Turk.[19] Thepicture book memoir, which carries a pro-peace message, tells the story of how Arun's grandfather, likening anger to lightning that could either destroy or illuminate, taught Arun to respond to injustice using peaceful methods, in order to "turn darkness into light". The book also focuses on how Arun, jealous of the other people who commanded his grandfather's attention, frustrated with his schoolwork, and embarrassed at his inability to control his anger, strove to make his grandfather proud. The book was met with positive reviews for its use of a child's point of view in order to make a complex historical issue understandable to child readers, and for Turk's use of cut-paper abstract images to create illustrations with emotional resonance.[20][21][22] He also publishedLegacy of Love: My Education in the Path of Nonviolence.[23]
Gandhi considered himself to be aHindu and expresseduniversalist views.[24] Like his grandfather, he also believed in applying the principle ofnonviolence (Ahimsa) as a means to resolve political and social conflicts in the modern world.[25]
Gandhi met nurse Sunanda in a hospital and they married in 1957. The couple had 2 children,Tushar, born on 17 January 1960, and Archana. Gandhi and Sunanda stayed married until her death on 21 February 2007.[26]
As of 2016, Gandhi resided inRochester, New York.[3] Gandhi died at the Sunanda Gandhi Home for Girls inKolhapur,Maharashtra on 2 May 2023.[27][28]
