Tushar Arun Gandhi (born 17 January 1960) is an Indian author and son of Arun Manilal Gandhi, thus great-grandson of

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 ...

. In March 2005, he led the 75th anniversary re-enactment of the Dandi March.

Early life

Tushar Arun Gandhi was born on 17 January 1960, in

Shegaon Shegaon is a city and municipal council in the Buldana district, Buldhana district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Shegaon has become a pilgrimage centre due to the influence of Shri Sant Gajanan Maharaj, w ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

, to Arun and . His father was an author and his mother was a researcher. Tushar was raised in the Mumbai suburb of Santacruz. He studied at Adarsh Vinay Mandir, a local Gujarati-medium school. He holds a diploma in printing from the Government Institute of Printing Technology, Mumbai.

Personal life

Gandhi resides 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 ...

. In 1985, he married Sonal Desai. Together, they have 2 children, son Vivan Gandhi and daughter Kasturi Gandhi. Kasturi was so named after

Kasturba Gandhi Kasturba Mohandas Gandhi (, born Kasturba Gokuldas Kapadia; 11 April 1869 – 22 February 1944) was an Indian political activist who was involved in the Indian independence movement during British Raj, British India. She was married to Mohandas ...

Career

Tushar Gandhi is best known for having established in 1998 in

Vadodara Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is a city situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district. The city is named for its abundance of banyan ...

, Gujarat, the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation. It is now located in Mumbai (and he is still its President). Since 1996, he has served as the President of the Lok Seva Trust, an NGO established by Dr. Kanti Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi in central Bombay in the mid-1950s for the welfare of textile-mill labourers. In 2000, Tushar portrayed himself in a fictional Tamil - Hindi movie directed by Kamal Hassan, " Hey Ram". In 2001, Tushar Gandhi negotiated with American marketing firm CMG Worldwide the use of the Mahatma’s image in an advertisement (aimed at university students) for a credit card company. This perceived betrayal of Gandhian ideals was followed by a public outcry causing him to cancel the deal. On January 30, 2003, as the 55th anniversary of his great-grandfather's assassination approaches. He and 150 other politicians have led a hunger strike in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

because of Clone High's depiction of

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 ...

caused a massive backlash. In 2009, he did likewise in a semi-fictional movie, " Road to Sangam," based on an episode in his own life. A non-fiction book by him, ''Let's Kill Gandhi'', was published in 2007 and became for a few weeks a best seller in India. Tushar in his book ''Let’s Kill Gandhi'', blamed

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

s in general for assassinating Mahatma Gandhi. Some critics claimed that the book defamed all Brahmins. Tushar has said he was misquoted and his claims relate only to "a certain group of Brahmins from

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

howere continuously attempting on the life of my great grandfather", rather than to Brahmins in general. In 2008 he was appointed Chairman of the Australian Indian Rural Development Foundation (AIRDF). He is trustee a
Maharashtra Gandhi Smarak Nidhi
since 2014. In 2018 he played a significant role in petitioning successfully the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...

to direct the states and Union Territories to comply with its orders to curb cow-vigilante lynch mobs. In 2019 he became a Director of the Gandhi Research Foundation in

Jalgaon Jalgaon () is a city in the state of Maharashtra, India. The city is located in North Maharashtra in the subregion of Khandesh, and serves as the administrative headquarters of its namesake district, the Jalgaon district. In the subregion of ...

, Maharashtra.

References

External links

Tushar Gandhi takes the plunge into politics

Being Mahatma’s descendants brings bouquets and brickbats

Tushar Gandhi on Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gandhi, Tushar 1960 births Living people Tushar Gandhians Mithibai College alumni Indian National Congress politicians