Arun Manilal Gandhi Biography 
Arun Manilal Gandhi is a US-Based socio-political activist, better known as the fifth grandson of Mohandas Gandhi. He is the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and Kasturba, born to Gandhi’s second son, Manilal Gandhi. Similar to him, his sister Ela Gandhi is also a social-political activist. He also believes in Non-Violence principle. When Indian government gave a subsidy of $25 million for his grandfather Mahatma Gandhi’s biopic Gandhi, he wrote an article criticizing the act urging that that money could have been spent for some significant tasks. But when the movie was released, he got impressed by its making and wrote another article retracting the first one.
Arun was born in 1934 in Durban, South Africa and grew up in an ashram there, aside his siter Ela Gandhi. After grown up, he used to teach underprivileged children. He is also a great follower of his grandfather’s principles. Most of those children belonged to the families who worked in surrounding fields where he was staying. Though he considers himself to be a Hindu he expresses Universalist views and also worked closely with Christian priests. He has been influenced by the religious teachings of all major religions.
In 1987, Arun Gandhi moved to the United States along with his wife, Sunanda. He also worked in South Africa. He founded the M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence hosted by the Christian Brothers University, and for his activities associated with it, he was honoured with Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston. Gandhi has given many speeches about nonviolence in many countries. His wife passed away in 2007.
He is the nephew of Hiralal, Ramdas and Devdas Gandhi. His uncle Devdas Gandhi was married to Lakshmi, the daughter of C. Rajagopalachari. His cousins - Rajmohan Gandhi is an eminent historian, biographer and former Rajya Sabha member; Gopalkrishna Gandhi is a famous diplomat and administrator; Ramchandra Gandhi – a Philosopher and Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee, currently serves as the Vice-Chairperson of Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti and Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust.
Published: N/A
Updated: February 27, 2016
