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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Kobad Ghandy
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|birth_date = {{birth year and age|1951}}
|birth_place = [[Mumbai|Bombay]], [[India]]
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[[St. Xavier's College, Mumbai]]<br/>[[University of Cambridge]]
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'''Kobad Ghandy''' (born 1951) is an Indian [[communist]] activist and ideologue. He became involved in revolutionary politics whilst a student in England in the 1970s, and worked as an organizer for the civil rights movement in India. He was a founding member of the Committee for the Protection of Democratic Rights. He was arrested on the accusation of being a [[politburo]] member of the underground [[Communist Party of India (Maoist)]] in 2009. He was acquitted and released after almost a decade in jail in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Oct 16|first1=TNN /|last2=2019|last3=Ist|first3=11:36|title=Sedition case: Maoist leader Kobad Ghandy gets bail {{!}} Surat News - Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/surat/sedition-case-maoist-leader-kobad-ghandy-gets-bail/articleshow/71609658.cms|access-date=2021-04-22|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-10-14|title=73 yr old Maoist ideologue Kobad Ghandy gets bail|url=https://www.deccanherald.com/national/west/73-yr-old-maoist-ideologue-kobad-ghandy-gets-bail-768352.html|access-date=2021-04-22|website=Deccan Herald|language=en}}</ref>

==Early life==
Kobad Ghandy was born to Nergis and Adi. Adi was a senior finance executive in [[Glaxo]]. He hails from a wealthy [[Parsi]] family in [[Mumbai]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/Cancer-landed-Kobad-in-police-net/articleshow/5048799.cms|title=Cancer landed Kobad in police net|last=Vishwa Mohan|first=Rahul Tripathi|date=24 September 2009|work=[[The Times of India]]|accessdate=2009-09-24}}</ref> Ghandy attended [[The Doon School]] and later [[St. Xavier's College, Mumbai]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8270400.stm | work=BBC News | title=India's unlikely Maoist revolutionary | date=23 September 2009}}</ref> He went to [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]], [[England]]<ref>{{Cite web|last1=DelhiOctober 15|first1=PTI New|last2=October 15|first2=2009UPDATED|last3=Ist|first3=2009 17:24|title=14-day judicial remand for Maoist leader Kobad Ghandy|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/latest-headlines/story/14-day-judicial-remand-for-maoist-leader-kobad-ghandy-58622-2009-10-15|access-date=2021-12-02|website=India Today|language=en}}</ref> to pursue a course in chartered accountancy but got initiated in radical politics, was deeply influenced by the revolutionary ideology and returned to India with his course unfinished.<ref name="The Rebel">{{cite web |author= Rahul Pandita |title= The Rebel |url= http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/nation/the-rebel |work = Open magazine |date= 26 September 2009 |accessdate= 26 September 2009}}</ref>

==Return to India==
Upon his return to India, he became active in revolutionary politics in [[Maharashtra]].<ref name=van>''Indian Vanguard''. ''[https://www.bannedthought.net/India/CPI-Maoist-Docs/Cadre/KGandhi-BetrayalLedToArrest-090929.pdf Betrayal led to Kobad Ghandy’s arrest: CPI MAOIST]''</ref> He was the founding member of Committee for the Protection of Democratic Rights.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Punwani|first1=Jyoti|title=The Kobad Ghandy I knew|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/the-kobad-ghandy-i-knew/article1-456970.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129202315/http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/the-kobad-ghandy-i-knew/article1-456970.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 November 2014|publisher=[[Hindustan Times]]|accessdate=20 November 2014|date=22 September 2009}}</ref> He spent the late 1970s and early 1980s in [[Nagpur]], working as a CPDR organizer.<ref>{{cite web |author= |title= Maoist who went to school in Doon, London |url= http://www.indianexpress.com/news/maoist-who-went-to-school-in-doon-london/520448/ |work= Indian Express |date= 23 September 2009 |accessdate=28 September 2009}}</ref>

==Party leader==
Ghandy became a member of the [[Central Committee]] of the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People's War]] in 1981.<ref name=van/> When the CPI(Maoist) was formed in 2004, he remained a Central Committee member of the new merged party.<ref name=van/> Ghandy reportedly participated in a 2005 meeting with the Nepalese Maoist leadership in Delhi, along with [[Kishenji]], [[Prachanda]] and [[Baburam Bhattarai]].<ref>CNN-IBN. ''[http://www.bannedthought.net/Nepal/Leaders/Bhattarai/AdviceToKishenji-BePractical-100302.pdf Be practical, hold talks: Nepal Maoists to Kishenji]''</ref>

Ghandy was elevated to the Politburo of the CPI(Maoist) at the 2007 Unity Congress.<ref name=van/> He was placed in charge of the CPI(M) Central Committee sub-committee on mass organisations and was responsible for the production of English-language party materials.<ref name=van/> He was expelled from the party in December 2021 for his anti-party statement in his book ''Fractured Freedom: A Prison Memoir.''<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Dec 2|first1=Soumitra Bose / TNN /|last2=2021|last3=Ist|first3=08:08|title=Maoist ideologue Kobad Ghandy suspended for 'anti-party' views {{!}} Nagpur News - Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/maoist-ideologue-kobad-ghandy-suspended-for-anti-party-views/articleshow/88041384.cms|access-date=2021-12-02|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-12-02|title=CPI(Maoist) expels Kobad Ghandy, accuses him of 'spiritualism', distancing himself from outfit|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/cpimaoist-expels-kobad-ghandy-spiritualism-distancing-himself-from-outfit-7650720/|access-date=2021-12-02|website=The Indian Express|language=en}}</ref>

==Arrest==
He was arrested in [[South Delhi]]<ref>{{cite web |author= B Vijay Murty and Karan Choudhury |title= Top Maoist leader arrested in Delhi |url= http://www.hindustantimes.com/newdelhi/Highest-ranking-Maoist-leader-arrested-in-Delhi/456662/H1-Article1-456658.aspx |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090926042526/http://www.hindustantimes.com/newdelhi/Highest-ranking-Maoist-leader-arrested-in-Delhi/456662/H1-Article1-456658.aspx |url-status= dead |archive-date= 26 September 2009 |work= Hindustan Times |date= 22 September 2009 |accessdate=28 September 2009}}</ref> om 17 September 2009 while undergoing treatment for [[cancer]].<ref>{{cite news |author= Rahul Tripathi and Vishwa Mohan |title= Cancer landed Kobad in police net |url= http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/Cancer-landed-Kobad-in-police-net/articleshow/5048799.cms |work= Times of India |date= 24 September 2009 |accessdate=28 September 2009}}</ref><ref name=van/> His arrest was made public on September 21, 2009.<ref name=van/> Per a statement by CPI(Maoist) the arrest had occurred after Ghandy had been betrayed by a party courier.<ref name=van/> Ghandy had made a visit to the guerrilla zone prior to his arrest.<ref name=van/>

==Personal life==
Kobad Ghandy married [[Anuradha Ghandy|Anuradha Shanbag]] in 1977<ref name="The Rebel" /><ref>{{cite web |author= Kobad Ghandy |title= Letter to the Editor |url= http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/nation/letter-to-the-editor |work = Open magazine |date= 8 May 2010 |accessdate= 12 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Honest reflections|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/culture/books/review-fractured-freedom-a-prison-memoir-by-kobad-ghandy/cid/1838487|access-date=2021-12-02|website=www.telegraphindia.com}}</ref> She was also a Central Committee member of CPI(Maoist).<ref name="The Rebel" /> She died of cerebral malaria in April 2008<ref name="The Rebel" /> in the jungles of Dandakaranya in Central India.

==Popular culture==
The character 'Govind Suryavanshi' in the 2012 [[Bollywood]] film ''[[Chakravyuh (2012 film)|Chakravyuh]]'', portrayed by [[Om Puri]], is said to be based upon Kobad Ghandy.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Om-Puri-plays-Maoist-Kobad-Ghandy/articleshow/15431838.cms | work=The Times Of India | title=Om Puri plays Maoist Kobad Ghandy - The Times of India}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Chhatradhar Mahato]]
*[[Jagdish Mahto]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [http://www.icawpi.org/analysis/media/551-from-jail-kobad-ghandy-submits-paper-on-inclusive-growth-to-new-delhi-seminar From jail, Kobad Ghandy submits paper on inclusive growth to New Delhi seminar | ICAWPI] - [http://www.icawpi.org International Campaign Against War on the People in India], 20 October 2010
* [http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/nation/letter-to-the-editor Letter to the Editor - Kobad Ghandy, one of the senior-most leaders of the CPI (Maoist), remembers his wife and comrade Anuradha Ghandy, the only woman in the Central Committee of the CPI (Maoists), who died in April 2008 of cerebral malaria. | OPEN Magazine], 8 May 2010

{{Communist Party of India (Maoist)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghandy, Kobad}}
[[Category:Communist Party of India (Maoist) politicians]]
[[Category:1951 births]]
[[Category:The Doon School alumni]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Parsi people from Mumbai]]
[[Category:Politicians from Mumbai]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian politicians]]
[[Category:Inmates of Tihar Jail]]
[[Category:St. Xavier's College, Mumbai alumni]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Cambridge]]

Kobad Ghandy - Revision history

->SdkbBot at 21:37, 4 January 2022