Prof. Ramjee Singh at Harijan Sevak Sangh

Ramjee Singh (born 1927, India) is a former Member of Parliament and vice-chancellor of Jain Vishva Bharati University.[1] He is an eminent Gandhian and is the author of a number of books on him. He was also the director of Gandhian Institute of Studies, Varanasi, India.[2] In January 2020 he was awarded the fourth highest civilian award in the country: The Padma Shri for Social Work.[3][4] His life has been a blend of being a Gandhian academician as well as an activist.[5] Singh has declared Mahatma Gandhi as the Bodhisattva of the 20th century.[6]

Education and achievements

Towards his academic achievements, he has earned three doctorate degrees, a PhD in Jainism, a D.Litt. in Hindu thought and another D.Litt. in Political Science in Gandhism and was awarded emeritus fellowship.[7] He is a prolific writer and has authored and edited about 50 books, mostly on Gandhism and Indian philosophy and culture both in English and Hindi.[8] He was also vice-chancellor of the Jain University, and a panel speaker at the International Philosophical Congress (Brighton) and Parliament of the World's Religions (Chicago, 1993), and Cape Town, 2001.[9] He was secretary and president of All India Philosophical Association for about 12 years and is currently the vice-president of Afro-Asian Philosophical Association.[10]

He has served as the secretary of Akhil Bharatiya Darshan Parishad for 9 years and its chairman for 6 years and the secretary of Afro Asian Philosophy Association (for Asia) since 1985.[11] He was also associated with the Royal Institute of Philosophy and Psychology, Sydney, etc. He was invited to address the plenary session of World Congress of Philosophy at Brighton, United Kingdom, which the British newspapers and the BBC acclaimed very highly.[12] He was the founder and head of the Department of Gandhian Thought at Bhagalpur University, where he served as its chairman for 10 years.[13] He has combined academics with social activism.[14]

Freedom movement and social activism

As a social activist he participated in freedom movement of India in 1942 under Gandhi's leadership and also suffered imprisonment for 21 months when the Indian government had suppressed all civil and political rights and imposed emergency in 1975–77.[15] As a result, he was elected to the Parliament of India with a margin of 186,000 votes against his formidable rival, who was later Chief Minister of Bihar.[16] He has also raised his voice against inhuman blinding of under-trial prisoners in jail before the Supreme Court of India and had moved a Public Interest Litigation in the High Court for the protection of the rights of the landless people.[17] As a Gandhian peace activist he has organised about 70 youth peace camps and helped to set up departments of Gandhian Studies and peace research throughout the country from the time he was president of the Indian Society of Gandhian Studies.[18] He still continues to be the president of the Indian Society of Gandhian Studies.[19] He has taught philosophy and Gandhian thought for 50 years and he is still an emeritus fellow of the University Grants Commission. .[20]

International representation

Associations with educational, social and cultural bodies

Books

Books edited

See also

References

  1. ^ "'Solve land dispute to restore peace'". The Hindu. 26 September 2003. Archived from the original on 19 February 2009. Retrieved 4 November 2008.
  2. ^ Ronald Bontekoe, Mariėtta Tigranovna (1997). Justice and Democracy: Cross-cultural Perspectives. University of Hawaii Press. p. 477. ISBN 978-0-8248-1926-2.
  3. ^ "Padma Awards 2020 Announced". pib.gov.in.
  4. ^ The Hindu Net Desk (26 January 2020). "Full list of 2020 Padma awardees". The Hindu.
  5. ^ Ramjee Singh (2010). Hind Swaraj and Satyagraha. Commonwealth Publishers Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 978-81-311-0305-0.
  6. ^ Nicholas F. Gier (2004). The Virtue of Nonviolence: From Gautama to Gandhi. SUNY Press. p. 222. ISBN 978-0-7914-5949-2.
  7. ^ Ramjee Singh (2010). Hind Swaraj and Satyagraha. Commonwealth Publishers Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 978-81-311-0305-0.
  8. ^ Ramjee Singh (2010). Hind Swaraj and Satyagraha. Commonwealth Publishers Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 978-81-311-0305-0.
  9. ^ Ramjee Singh (2010). Hind Swaraj and Satyagraha. Commonwealth Publishers Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 978-81-311-0305-0.
  10. ^ Ramjee Singh (2010). Hind Swaraj and Satyagraha. Commonwealth Publishers Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 978-81-311-0305-0.
  11. ^ Ramjee Singh (1998). Dimensions of Indian Thought and Culture. Manak Publications Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 81-86562-41-9.
  12. ^ Ramjee Singh (1998). Dimensions of Indian Thought and Culture. Manak Publications Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 81-86562-41-9.
  13. ^ Ramjee Singh (1998). Dimensions of Indian Thought and Culture. Manak Publications Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 81-86562-41-9.
  14. ^ Ramjee Singh (1998). Dimensions of Indian Thought and Culture. Manak Publications Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 81-86562-41-9.
  15. ^ Ramjee Singh (2010). Hind Swaraj and Satyagraha. Commonwealth Publishers Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 978-81-311-0305-0.
  16. ^ Ramjee Singh (2010). Hind Swaraj and Satyagraha. Commonwealth Publishers Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 978-81-311-0305-0.
  17. ^ Ramjee Singh (2010). Hind Swaraj and Satyagraha. Commonwealth Publishers Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 978-81-311-0305-0.
  18. ^ Ramjee Singh (2010). Hind Swaraj and Satyagraha. Commonwealth Publishers Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 978-81-311-0305-0.
  19. ^ Ramjee Singh (2010). Hind Swaraj and Satyagraha. Commonwealth Publishers Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 978-81-311-0305-0.
  20. ^ Ramjee Singh (2011). Gandhi and the New Millennium. Commonwealth Publishers Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 978-81-7169-635-2.
  21. ^ "Welcome To Harijan Sevak Sangh". www.gandhicreationhss.org. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
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