SUNY Adirondack hosts nonviolence discussion with Gandhi's grandson

Prominent activist, educator, writer to address 'Gandhi's Doctrine of Nonviolence'

QUEENSBURY, New York (March 21, 2022) — SUNY Adirondack is proud to offer “Gandhi’s Doctrine of Nonviolence: Theory, History and Principles” with Dr. Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson of famed activist Mahatma Gandhi.

The interactive presentation will be held at 12:30 p.m. Monday, April 4, in Scoville Auditorium, with Gandhi attending live via Zoom. This event is free and open to the public. 

“We believe this topic is particularly relevant to current efforts to achieve social justice changes on campus and in our society through nonviolent means,” said John Arpey, professor of Business and chair of SUNY Adirondack’s Business division, which organized the event.

Arpey said a reception with food and drink will be held outside Scoville Auditorium. He anticipates a recorded version of the discussion will be made available to SUNY Adirondack students in the college’s Second Chance Pell program at Washington Correctional Facility. 

Gandhi, a research professor at the College of Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is a highly respected historian and biographer.  

An active proponent for reconciliation and democratic rights for more than 60 years, he helped establish Asia Plateau, an Initiatives of Change center in western India, in the 1960s and ’70s. From 1964 to 1981, he published a weekly journal advocating for democracy, even through the prime minister-declared state of emergency from 1975 to 1977. 

Gandhi is author of numerous books, including “Modern South India: A History from the 17th Century to Our Times,” (2018), “Understanding the Muslim Mind” (1987) and “Gandhi: The Man, his People and the Empire” (2008), which received the Indian History Congress’ Biennial Award. 

In 2002, he received the Sahitya Akademi Award, the second-highest literary award in India, for “Rajaji: A Life,” a biography of Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, the last governor-general of India before the nation became a republic in 1950.

He has served as a member of India’s Parliament and as a jury member for the Nuremberg International Human Rights Award, led the Indian delegation to the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva and was president of Initiatives of Change International. 

“Dr. Gandhi has written an award-winning book on the life, principles and teaching of his grandfather, Mahatma Gandhi,” Arpey said. 

Gandhi has earned honorary doctorates from Michigan State University, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Liverpool Hope University, University of Calgary and Obirin University. 

To attend “Gandhi’s Doctrine of Nonviolence,” log in to https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89427375959?pwd=YUQzRE9Vb29oRkV0Z1FQVkNFMXNZQT09 . Meeting ID is 894 2737 5959 and passcode is 725615.