Park University to Welcome Mahatma Gandhi's Grandson for 150th Birthday Commemoration
Rajmohan Gandhi to Discuss Peacebuilding Between India and Pakistan in Kansas City
Rajmohan Gandhi, a renowned Indian biographer, historian, politician, and peacebuilder, will be visiting the Kansas City area on August 26 and 27, 2019. The events are being organized by Park University's Center for Global Peace Journalism (CGPJ).
On August 26, a program titled "Gandhi: The First Peace Journalist" will take place at 7 p.m. in Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel on Park University's Parkville Campus. The event, co-sponsored by the International Relations Council, will feature Rajmohan Gandhi, Abhijit Mazumdar (assistant professor of journalism at Park), Cynthia Lukas (co-producer of the documentary "Gandhi's Gift"), and Steven Youngblood (director of the CGPJ and associate professor of communications) as speakers. Steven Youngblood will moderate the discussion, which will focus on Mahatma Gandhi as a journalist and his promotion of journalism as a tool for societal development and peace.
A reception will precede the presentation on August 27 starting at 6:30 p.m. On the same day, Rajmohan Gandhi will present a symposium on "The Status of Peacebuilding Between India and Pakistan" at 7 p.m. in Hudson Auditorium on Johnson County Community College's campus in Overland Park, Kan.
Rajmohan Gandhi, the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, is a research professor in the Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has been associated with Initiatives of Change since 1956 and served as president of Initiatives of Change International in 2009 and 2010.
As a historian and writer, Rajmohan Gandhi has authored several works including "Rajaji: A Life," a biography of his maternal grandfather, C. Rajagopalachari, which details the life of this prominent Indian leader. Among his published books are Why Gandhi Matters: An Appraisal of the Mahatma's Legacy (2017) and Gandhi: The Man, his People and the Empire (2008).
In the 1960s and early 1970s, Rajmohan Gandhi played a leading role in establishing Asia Plateau, a center of Initiatives of Change in the mountains of western India. Asia Plateau fosters dialogue, reconciliation, and ethical governance and is recognized on the Indian subcontinent for its ecological contribution.
Rajmohan Gandhi's contributions as a peacebuilder are recognized through his efforts in fostering reconciliation and dialogue, drawing from his family heritage of nonviolence and India's freedom movement. He led the Indian delegation to the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1990. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament, from 1990 to 1992.
Admission to both events is free and open to the public. For more information, visit the Park University Center for Global Peace Journalism website.
- Rajmohan Gandhi, as a research professor in the Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership at the University of Illinois, showcases the importance of education and self-development and politics in his multifaceted career, which includes being a biographer, historian, politician, and peacebuilder.
- The upcoming symposium on "The Status of Peacebuilding Between India and Pakistan" by Rajmohan Gandhi, a renowned peacebuilder and grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, highlights the link between general news and peacebuilding, offering insights into current international relations.
