Kobad Ghandy

Kobad Ghandy (born 1951) is an Indian communist politician and ideologue. He became involved in revolutionary politics whilst a student in England in the 1970s, and worked as an organizer for the civil rights movement in India. He was a founding member of the Committee for the Protection of Democratic Rights. A politburo member of the underground Communist Party of India (Maoist), he is jailed since 2009.

Kobad Ghandy
Politburo member of the Communist Party of India (Maoist)
Assumed office
2007
Personal details
Born1951 (age 69–70)
Bombay, India
NationalityIndian
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1983; died 2008)​
EducationThe Doon School
St. Xavier's College, Mumbai
University of Cambridge

Early life

Kobad Ghandy was born to Nergis and Adi. Adi was a senior finance executive in Glaxo. He hails from a wealthy Parsi family in Mumbai.[1] Ghandy attended The Doon School and later St. Xavier's College, Mumbai.[2] He went to England to pursue a course in chartered accountancy but got initiated in radical politics, was deeply influenced by the revolutionary ideology and returned to India with his course unfinished.[3]

Return to India

Upon his return to India, he became active in revolutionary politics in Maharashtra.[4] He was the founding member of Committee for the Protection of Democratic Rights.[5] He spent the late 1970s and early 1980s in Nagpur, working as a CPDR organizer.[6]

Party leader

Ghandy became a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People's War in 1981.[4] When the CPI(Maoist) was formed in 2004, he remained a Central Committee member of the new merged party.[4] Ghandy reportedly participated in a 2005 meeting with the Nepalese Maoist leadership in Delhi, along with Kishenji, Prachandra and Baburam Bhattarai.[7]

Ghandy was elevated to the Politburo of the CPI(Maoist) at the 2007 Unity Congress.[4] He was placed in charge of the CPI(Maoist) Central Committee sub-committee on mass organisations and was responsible for the production of English-language party materials.[4]

Arrest

He was arrested in South Delhi[8] om 17 September 2009 while undergoing treatment for cancer.[9][4] His arrest was made public on September 21, 2009.[4] Per a statement by CPI(Maoist) the arrest had occurred after Ghandy had been betrayed by a party courier.[4] Ghandy had made a visit to the guerrilla zone prior to his arrest.[4]

Personal life

Kobad Ghandy married Anuradha Shanbag in 1977[3][10] She was also a Central Committee member of CPI(Maoist).[3] She died of cerebral malaria in April 2008[3] in the jungles of Dandakaranya in Central India.

The character 'Govind Suryavanshi' in the 2012 Bollywood film Chakravyuh, portrayed by Om Puri, is said to be based upon Kobad Ghandy.[11]

References
  1. Vishwa Mohan, Rahul Tripathi (24 September 2009). "Cancer landed Kobad in police net". The Times of India. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
  2. "India's unlikely Maoist revolutionary". BBC News. 23 September 2009.
  3. Rahul Pandita (26 September 2009). "The Rebel". Open magazine. Retrieved 26 September 2009.
  4. Indian Vanguard. Betrayal led to Kobad Ghandy’s arrest: CPI MAOIST
  5. Punwani, Jyoti (22 September 2009). "The Kobad Ghandy I knew". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  6. "Maoist who went to school in Doon, London". Indian Express. 23 September 2009. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
  7. CNN-IBN. Be practical, hold talks: Nepal Maoists to Kishenji
  8. B Vijay Murty and Karan Choudhury (22 September 2009). "Top Maoist leader arrested in Delhi". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
  9. Rahul Tripathi and Vishwa Mohan (24 September 2009). "Cancer landed Kobad in police net". Times of India. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
  10. Kobad Ghandy (8 May 2010). "Letter to the Editor". Open magazine. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  11. "Om Puri plays Maoist Kobad Ghandy - The Times of India". The Times Of India.
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