Ramjee Singh (born 1927, India) is a former Member of Parliament and vice-chancellor of Jain Vishva Bharati University. He is an eminent Gandhian and is the author of a number of books on him. He was also the director of Gandhian Institute of Studies,

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

, India. In January 2020 he was awarded the fourth highest civilian award in the country: The

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

for Social Work. His life has been a blend of being a Gandhian academician as well as an activist. Singh has declared

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

as the

Bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...

of the 20th century.

Education and achievements

Towards his academic achievements, he has earned three doctorate degrees, a PhD in

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...

, a D.Litt. in Hindu thought and another D.Litt. in

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

in Gandhism and was awarded emeritus fellowship. He is a prolific writer and has authored and edited about 50 books, mostly on Gandhism and Indian philosophy and culture both in English and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

. He was also vice-chancellor of the Jain University, and a panel speaker at the International Philosophical Congress (

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

) and

Parliament of the World's Religions There have been several meetings referred to as a Parliament of the World's Religions, the first being the World's Parliament of Religions of 1893, which was an attempt to create a global dialogue of faiths. The event was celebrated by another c ...

(Chicago, 1993), and

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, 2001. He was secretary and president of All India Philosophical Association for about 12 years and is currently the vice-president of Afro-Asian Philosophical Association. He has served as the secretary of ''Akhil Bharatiya Darshan Parishad'' for 9 years and its chairman for 6 years and the secretary of Afro Asian Philosophy Association (for Asia) since 1985. He was also associated with the Royal Institute of Philosophy and Psychology, Sydney, etc. He was invited to address the plenary session of

World Congress of Philosophy The World Congress of Philosophy (originally known as the International Congress of Philosophy) is a global meeting of philosophers held every five years under the auspices of the International Federation of Philosophical Societies (FISP). First or ...

, United Kingdom, which the British newspapers and the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

acclaimed very highly. He was the founder and head of the Department of Gandhian Thought at Bhagalpur University, where he served as its chairman for 10 years. He has combined academics with social activism.

Freedom movement and social activism

As a social activist he participated in freedom movement of India in 1942 under Gandhi's leadership and also suffered imprisonment for 21 months when the Indian government had suppressed all civil and political rights and imposed emergency in 1975–77. As a result, he was elected to the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of India, Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok ...

with a margin of 186,000 votes against his formidable rival, who was later Chief Minister of Bihar. He has also raised his voice against inhuman blinding of under-trial prisoners in jail before the Supreme Court of India and had moved a Public Interest Litigation in the High Court for the protection of the rights of the landless people. As a Gandhian peace activist he has organised about 70 youth peace camps and helped to set up departments of Gandhian Studies and peace research throughout the country from the time he was president of the Indian Society of Gandhian Studies. He still continues to be the president of the Indian Society of Gandhian Studies. He has taught philosophy and Gandhian thought for 50 years and he is still an emeritus fellow of the University Grants Commission. .

International representation

, Chicago (1993). * World Philosophy Congress (

, 1988), Moscow. * World Philanthropy Conference,

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

1991. * Member, East-West Philosophical Meet, Hawaii 1995. * Has travelled and represented India in various meetings and seminars in UK, United States, France, Italy, USS.R, Japan,

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, S. Korea, Singapore,

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, South Africa,

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, Canada etc.

Associations with educational, social and cultural bodies

* Hon. president, International society of social philosophy * Vice-President, Afro-Asian Philosophical Association. * Chancellor, Vikramshila Hindi Vidyapeeth, Bhagalpur. * Convener, National Committee for Shanti-Sena. * Emeritus professor of Gandhian thought ( University Grants Commission). * Ex- member, Indian Council of Philosophical Research. * Ex- member,

Royal Institute of Philosophy The Royal Institute of Philosophy, founded in 1925, is a charitable organisation that holds and funds lectures and events on philosophical topics. It publishes two journals and offers grant programmes as part of its mission to share philosophica ...

, London. * Ex-member, Mind Association,

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. * Life-member, Indian Philosophical Congress. * Hon. Member, World Jain Mission. * Life Member, Indian Parliamentary Group,

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. * Member, National Board of Adult Education, 1977–79. * Member, University Grants Commission Committee on Regional Languages, 1978–79. * member, University Grants Commission Committee on Evaluation of N.A.E.P., 1979. * Member of

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

, 1977–81 * Member, Parliamentary Committee on Library, 1977–79 * Member, University Grants Commission Committee on Gandhian Centenary celebration. * President, Indian Society of Gandhian Thought (1989–94) * Member, Advisory Council of Harijan Sevak Sangh *Patron, Shree Rash Bihari Mission *Member, Standing Committee, Bharat Navjagran Yojna

Books

in the new millennium Commonwealth publication (2010). *

- Man of the millennium ( Commonwealth Publication (2010). *

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ...

aur gandhi vichar ka saurya mandal, Arjun Publication, Delhi, 2010. * Hind Swaraj and

Satyagraha Satyāgraha (from ; ''satya'': "truth", ''āgraha'': "insistence" or "holding firmly to"), or "holding firmly to truth",' or "truth force", is a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. Someone who practises satyagraha is ...

(Commonwealth Publication, New delhi, 2010. * राष्ट्रीय धर्म और राजनीति (Arjun Publication, 2010). * भारतीय दर्शनशात्र और धर्म ((Arjun Publication, 2010). * Gandhi dristi (Arjun Publication, 2010). * Dimensions of Indian thought and culture, Manak (1998). *

and the modern world, Classical Pub. Co (1988). *

and the new millennium, Commonwealth (2000). * The

an vision, Manak Publications; 1st edition (1998). * Jaina perspective in philosophy and religion (Parsvanatha sodhapitha granthamala), Pujya Sohanalal Smaraka Parsvanatha Sodhapitha; 1st edition (1993). * JP 100 Years; Text and Context, Commonwealth Publishers (2004). * The relevance of

an thought, Classical Pub. Co (1983). * The Jaina concept of omniscience, L.D. Institute of

Indology Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is ...

(1974). * The concept of Omniscience in ancient Hindu thought, Oriental Publishers & Distributors (1979). *

and the twenty-first century, Peace Publishers (1993). * Gandhian darshan mimansa (Hindi), Bihar Hindi Granth Academy, Patna, 1974. * Samaj Darshan ka mool tatva (Hindi), Rajasthan Hindi Granth Academy, Patna 1979. * Gandhi and the 31st Century, Peace Publication, Delhi 1993. * Bhartiya darshan aur chintan (Hindi), Manak Publication, New Delhi, 1997. * Gandhi Vichar (Hindi), Manak Publication,

, 1995. * Gandhian Vision, Manak Publication, New Delhi, 1997. * Reflections of Jaina, Manak Publications, New Delhi, 2003. * Peace: ideology and action, gis, 1997. * Naya samaj aur Nayi Sanskriti, Commonwealth Publishers, New Delhi, 2002.

Books edited

Sarvodaya Sarvōdaya ( ''wikt:सर्व, sarv-'' "all", ''wikt:उदय, uday'' "rising") is a Sanskrit term which generally means "universal uplift" or "progress of all". The term was used by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi as the title of ...

, Raj Hans Publications, New Delhi, 1984. * World Perspective in Philosophy, Religion and Culture, Bharti Bhawan, Patna, 1960. * Gandhi's relevance from modern times, Bhagalpur University, 1968. * Sant-mat ki paramparaye (Hindi) 2009. * Essential unity of all religions, Bhagalpur University, 1968. * Relevance of satyagraha for modern times, Bhagalpur University, 1971. * Gandhi's centenary number, T.N.B . college, Bhagalpur University, 1970. * Vinoba-Satsang (Hindi), N.B. College, Bhagalpur University, 1968. * Sa-Vidyana-Vimuktaye, GPF, Bhagalpur, 1968. * Sarvodaya OF

, Rajhans Publications, Delhi, 1984. *

jyoti, Quarterly journal of Gandhian Thought, (1986–92). * Mehi janmashanti abhinandan granths, Bhagalpur, 1983. * Satsang piyush, Munger, 1994. * Sarsang Gandhi, Munger, 1995. *

:125 years, S.S. prakashan, Varanasi, 1996. *

and the world order, Radiant Publication, Delhi, 1996. *

and the future of humanity, Manak Publication, Delhi, 1997. * Kasturba: bhartiya stree-shakti ki Pratika, GIS, 1997. * Sradha and Samarpan,

, 1999. * Manas Mangalam, Indrukh Manas Samiti, 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Ramjee Living people 20th-century Indian philosophers Indian pacifists Gandhians Indian nonviolence advocates 20th-century Indian Jains Scholars of Jainism Scholars from Bihar People from Bhagalpur 1927 births India MPs 1977–1979 Lok Sabha members from Bihar Janata Party politicians Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work Academic staff of Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University