Anuradha Ghandy: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|indian communist and revolutionary}}

Anuradha was born to an older generation of communists, Ganesh and Kumud Shanbag,<ref name="OPEN"/> who were married in the [[Communist Party of India|CPI]] office in [[Mumbai]].<ref name="OPEN"/> They were in the party till the mid-1950s, when it had not yet branched into the present Maoist and Marxist factions.<ref name="OPEN"/> Ganesh later got into the Defence committee, and volunteered to work in the cases filed against the communists.<ref name="OPEN"/> Kumud has been an active social worker all her life, and is at present involved with a women's group. The couple were very [[Left-wing|progressive]] in the way they brought up their children, who later became revolutionaries. Anuradha's brother, [[Sunil Shanbag]], is a [[Progressivism|progressive]] [[Mumbai]]-based playwright, writing left-wing revolutionary plays. Anuradha attended J. B. Petit School in [[Santacruz, Mumbai|Santacruz]]. The children were exposed to varied views and ideas and were motivated to read a lot and develop their own interests such as classical dancing and theatre.<ref name="OPEN"/> In such a household, where communist ideas enjoyed a monopoly, it was inevitable that Anuradha would become intrigued with revolutionary politics. The prime period for the communist propaganda in India was the 1970s, with the [[Cultural Revolution]] in China, [[opposition to the Vietnam War]] in the US, and many other social changes. It was during this time that [[Naxalbari]] came into being, starting tribal and workers revolts across whole of South Asia. Anuradha was then involved with PROYOM, a radical student group.

In November 1983, Anuradha Shanbag married [[Kobad Ghandy]], also a  [[Naxalite]] like herself.<ref>[http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/india/the-rebel]</ref><ref>{{cite web |author= Kobad Ghandy |title= Letter to the Editor |url= http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/nation/letter-to-the-editor |work = [[OPEN (Indian magazine)|OPEN]]  |date= 8 May 2010 }}</ref> Ghandy hails from a [[Gujarati people|Gujarati]]-[[Parsi]] family.<ref>{{cite web |author= Nauzer Bharucha |title= Kobad's father backed cause: Brother-in-law |url= http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-09-24/mumbai/28098945_1_kobad-anuradha-worli |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110811063757/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-09-24/mumbai/28098945_1_kobad-anuradha-worli |url-status= dead |archive-date= 11 August 2011 |work= [[The Times of India]] |date= 24 September 2009 }}</ref>

Anuradha died of causes related to [[Plasmodium falciparum|falciparum]] [[malaria]] on 12 April 2008. [[Systemic scleroderma|Systemic sclerosis]] had weakened her immune system, leading to multiple organ failure, which was, among other things.<ref>{{cite news  | url=http://parsiana.com/archives/details.asp?article_id%3D2614%26search_for%3D |title=A Comrade and Companion |date=21 April 2010 |work= [Parsiana]}}</ref> It was during her stint in Jharkhand, educating the tribals against oppression of women in their society, when she contracted cerebral malaria.<ref name="OPEN"/> During her final days, she had been training the women cadre to develop leadership skills.

* 2001: "Fascism, Fundamentalism, and Patriarchy"