Romesh Chandra (30 March 1919 – 4 July 2016) was a leader of the

Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...

(CPI) and the president of the

World Peace Council The World Peace Council (WPC) is an international organization created in 1949 by the Cominform and propped up by the Soviet Union. Throughout the Cold War, WPC engaged in propaganda efforts on behalf of the Soviet Union, whereby it criticize ...

from 1977 to 1990. He joined the CPI in 1939 and took part in the

Indian independence struggle The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic movement to ...

as a student leader. He subsequently held various posts within the party.

Life

Chandra was born on 30 March 1919 in Lyallpur in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(now

Faisalabad Faisalabad, formerly known as Lyallpur, is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, second-largest city and primary List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, industrial center of the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan ...

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# ...

). He earned one degree in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

and another from

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in England. In Lahore, Chandra was chairman of a students' union from 1934 to 1941. He joined the

in 1939, taking part in

India's freedom struggle The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

and became the member of the Central Committee of the CPI by 1952. Later he rose to the National Council in 1958 and entered the Central Executive Committee. He was member of the Central Secretariat of the National Council from 1963 to 1967. Chandra also edited the party publication ''New Age'' from 1963 to 1966. Chandra became the General Secretary of the All-India Peace Council in 1952 and continued that position till 1963. In 1953 he joined the

, becoming its General Secretary in 1953 and its president in 1977. He addressed the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

many times, the most times of any

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n. The World Peace Council gave Chandra its F. Joliot-Curie Gold Peace Medal in 1964. The

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1968 presented him with the International Lenin Prize for Strengthening Peace among Nations and again honoured him by conferring the

Order of Friendship of Peoples The Order of Friendship of Peoples () was an order of the Soviet Union, and was awarded to persons (including non-citizens), organizations, enterprises, military units, as well as administrative subdivisions of the USSR for accomplishments in s ...

in 1975. In 1971, he criticized the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental transnational military alliance of 32 member states—30 European and 2 North American. Established in the aftermat ...

as a "great threat to world peace". During the Assembly of the World Peace Council held at Athens in 2000, Chandra was elected as its "President of Honour". Chandra was married and had a son, Firoze Chandra. The couple divorced, and his ex-wife died in 2015. Around 3 p.m.

IST #REDIRECT Ist {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...

on 4 July 2016, Chandra died in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

of old age at the age of 97.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* . * . {{DEFAULTSORT:Chandra, Romesh 1919 births 2016 deaths Communist Party of India politicians from Maharashtra People from Faisalabad World Peace Council Recipients of the Lenin Peace Prize Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples People from Punjab Province (British India)