Anuradha Ghandy

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Anuradha Ghandy
Source - bbc.co.uk - © [2009] BBC
Born
Anuradha Shanbag

(1954-03-28)28 March 1954
Died12 April 2008(2008-04-12) (aged 54)
Mumbai, India
NationalityIndian
Other namesNarmada, Varsha, Rama, Anu, Janaki
Alma materElphinstone College, Mumbai
Known forProminent Figure of Maoist movement in India
Spouse
​
(m. 1983)​

Anuradha Ghandy (28 March 1954 – 12 April 2008) was an Indian

communist, writer, and revolutionary leader. She was a Central Committee member of the Communist Party of India (Maoist). She was one of the founding members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist), in Maharashtra.[1]

Among the policy papers drafted by the

Marxist movement, Anuradha had contributed significantly to the ones on castes and 'Feminism and Marxism'. She made the guerillas realise the potential of worker cooperatives in areas like agricultural production, in Dandakaranya. She was also critical on shifting patriarchal ideas that were then dominant in the party.[2]

In her obituary for Anuradha, with whom she was friends from the days when the latter was still a college student in the 1970s,

Naxalite menace', says Manmohan Singh
, 'is the biggest threat to the country'. But I remember a girl who was always laughing and who gave up a life rich in every way to change the lives of others".

Early life

Anuradha was born to an older generation of communists, Ganesh and Kumud Shanbag,

opposition to the Vietnam War in the US, and many other social changes. It was during this time that Naxalbari uprising
came into being, starting tribal and workers revolts across whole of South Asia. Anuradha was then involved with PROYOM, a radical student group.

Political career

In the 1970s,

Dalit Panther
Movement.

She was one of the leading figures in India in its post-emergency days, when the

Bastar. She was leading the women's wing of the party, working underground, until her death.[2]

Personal life

In November 1983, Anuradha Shanbag married

Parsi family.[7]

Death

Anuradha died of causes related to falciparum malaria on 12 April 2008. Due to her fear of government persecution including arrests or false encounters (she would be seen by the state as a ‘Maoist terrorist’) she had given the doctor she went to for a checkup a false name and dud phone number. When the doctor found that she had the parasite Plasmodium falciparum, he could not get through to her to warn her about these test results. On April 11, 2008, she was admitted to a hospital in Mumbai, but by then it was too late to save her. She died at the age of 54 on April 12, 2008. Systemic sclerosis had weakened her immune system, leading to multiple organ failure, which was, among other things, a contributing factor to her death.[8] It was during her stint in Jharkhand, educating the tribals against oppression of women in their society, when she contracted cerebral malaria.[2] During her final days, she had been training the women cadre to develop leadership skills.

Bibliography

Articles

  • 2001: "Fascism, Fundamentalism, and Patriarchy"[9]
  • 2001: "People's War has shattered the hesitations of the women of Dandakaranya"

Books

  • 2006: Philosophical Trends in the Feminist Movement
  • 2012: Scripting the Change: Selected Writings of Anuradha Ghandy
  • 2015: The Caste Question In India

References

  1. ^ Special Correspondent (29 April 2008). "Maoist leader Anuradha dead". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 1 May 2008.
  2. ^
    OPEN
    .
  3. ^ Jyoti Punwani (20 April 2008). "Memories of a Naxalite friend". The Times of India.
  4. ISSN 0971-751X
    . Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  5. ^ "The Rebel". 23 September 2009.
  6. OPEN
    .
  7. ^ Nauzer Bharucha (24 September 2009). "Kobad's father backed cause: Brother-in-law". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011.
  8. ^ "A Comrade and Companion". [Parsiana]. 21 April 2010.
  9. ^ Ansari, Halima Zoha (9 January 2022). "Anuradha Ghandy On Hindutva, Women In RSS & A Complete Abolition Of Caste". Feminism In India. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
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