Rajmohan Gandhi
The writer is research professor at Centre for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.
Authors you can follow
More From Rajmohan Gandhi
Lessons from Ukraine on the fragility of the strong
Rajmohan Gandhi writes: Even powerful countries, like Putin’s Russia, can be weakened by their blunders
Fri, Apr 08, 2022
Why Sardar Patel supported Partition
Rajmohan Gandhi writes: The Congress stalwart held that it would enable the vast India that remained to have a strong central government and remove Muslim League’s capacity to obstruct.
Sun, Oct 31, 2021
Amid threats to citizens’ rights are the stories of courage that sustain us
Rajmohan Gandhi writes: When the powerful bully the vulnerable, we’re revolted, not impressed. When the weak stand up to the mighty, we’re stirred.
Sat, Aug 14, 2021
Those calling publicly for violence against Muslims and Christians are no friends of nation, govt
PM Modi must in clear language tell the Indian people and the world that his government will protect tolerance, decency and equal human rights.
Thu, Apr 22, 2021
Lessons from the Republican Cult of Trump
Rajmohan Gandhi writes: PM Modi has a lot in common with the former US president and the Republican Party’s submission to Trump is bound to invite questions about the BJP.
Sat, Mar 06, 2021
Like Republicans against Trumpism, dissenters within BJP must speak up
Who in the BJP or the Hindutva parivaar are the counterparts of McConnell and Liz Cheney? Quiet disapproval of Modi-Shah's policies and responses must exist within the parivaar. Common sense tells us that. Competitive human nature ensures that.
Mon, Feb 08, 2021
India’s victory against divisive politics will come when everyday Hindus say enough
“Hindu consolidation” against Muslims is the political equivalent in India for the American call, open or subtle, for white supremacy.
Tue, Jan 19, 2021
US polls have shown ‘ordinary’ citizen has the ability and duty to call out a wrong
For any of us to wait for some great leader or to keep silent until a unified opposition emerges, is to acquiesce in daily deeds of injustice.
Wed, Dec 23, 2020
The US possesses a sense of independence at local level, even when divided at national level
They love the flag, they love the White America that is sailing away, they love America’s dominance in the world, they love their traditional jobs. They love it when Trump implies that the flag, the gun, and the cross are three different words for the same thing.
Mon, Nov 30, 2020
Inclusion of the word fraternity in Preamble is of historic importance and contemporary relevance
In any case, what the world’s present condition needs, namely bonding between humans, may be more important than the alphabet letters that make up “fraternity”.
Thu, Oct 22, 2020
Amicable relations with Pakistan may seem remote but they are worth striving for
Once it has a defeated Pakistan on its hands, India may regret its victory. No doubt, it is possible to imagine the forces of a victorious India abandoning, to no one’s peace of mind, a vanquished Pakistan to its fate, something similar, perhaps, to what the US under Trump appears to be doing in respect of Afghanistan.
Sat, Aug 29, 2020
Democracies in both India and the US face a similar internal challenge
Both must recognise: Pledges of liberty, equality, fraternity and dignity possess much broader pull than hardening notions of nationalism
Tue, Jul 14, 2020
How a remark by a doctor in Wuhan evoked Gandhi’s efforts, why it matters
By underscoring the equal vulnerability of every member of the human family, COVID-19 has shown the silliness in blaming persons for their skin-colour, blood-group or religion.
Sat, Jun 06, 2020
Misreading history: Partition did not validate the two-nation theory
Rajmohan Gandhi writes: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has blamed Partition on Nehru. Assigning sole or main responsibility for that painful event to Nehru lacks any historical basis. It should be recognised, moreover, that if Partition had not occurred, all the residents of today’s Pakistan and Bangladesh would have been free to move to any corner of today’s India.
Thu, Feb 13, 2020
CAA doesn’t carry out Mahatma Gandhi’s wishes, it brazenly defies them
To imply that Gandhi wanted the Hindu minorities of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to migrate to India, or that a CAA enabling such a migration fulfils Gandhi’s wishes, is to turn history on its head. Gandhi wanted India too to protect its minorities
Mon, Jan 27, 2020
Is every Indian mine?: That’s the question for 2020 to answer
Some have tried to justify the discrimination by citing the circumstances of the 1947 Partition. Can circumstances 72 years ago justify inequality today? Moreover, those circumstances should be honestly recalled.
Wed, Jan 01, 2020
Manufactured hate should not sway Hindu worldview post the Ayodhya verdict
It’s time for the calm Hindu to speak up, reclaim the Hindu platform, and restore sanity to it. For centuries, the serene confidence of everyday Hindus, as also of exceptional Hindu figures, sprang not from how they were treated by others, whether non-Hindu or Hindu, but from their own peace of mind, and their own creativity.
Thu, Nov 21, 2019
The fearless dissenter who had a plan to make the countryside hum with life — that is the Gandhi India needs
Gandhi thought India’s independence would mean little unless it also meant the independence of every Indian.
Wed, Oct 09, 2019
People’s consent is missing in how J&K has been taken over by the ‘rest of India’
Betrayals may be inevitable in our fallen world. Taking people for granted, however, and doing with them whatever we want without their consent, is going too far.
Mon, Aug 19, 2019
Way forward in Kashmir
Actions intended to change the state’s status and demographics will intensify alienation
Mon, Jun 10, 2019
PM Modi’s labelling of Rajiv Gandhi as ‘Bhrashtachari No. 1’ sinks political discourse
Even if someone then believed that Rajiv had tolerated corruption, would they say to his son 28 years later that “your father ended his life as India’s most corrupt man”?
Tue, May 07, 2019
The meeting with Golwalkar: What Gandhi really said
He was unconvinced by RSS chief after 1947 meeting, stood against majoritarianism
Tue, Apr 16, 2019
Lessons from 1952, 1967, 1977
Indira Gandhi’s audacity, which few foresaw, split the Congress in the 1969 summer and the state of Pakistan in the 1971-72 winter. In March 1971, well before the liberation of Bangladesh, that daring had fetched Indira’s Congress 352 seats out of 545 in a mid-term poll.
Sun, Mar 17, 2019
A new temple, a new mosque
Ayodhya’s disputing sides can come together. The Supreme Court can direct them to do so.
Wed, Feb 06, 2019