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Rajmohan Gandhi To Hold Discussion on India-Pakistan Relations

J M Shenoy

Rajmohan Gandhi, who is a visiting scholar at the Halle Institute for Global Learning, Emory University in Atlanta, will hold a discussion on India-Pakistan relations.

The event is scheduled for January 26, India's Republic Day.

A research scholar based at the Center for Policy Studies in New Delhi and an editor for several years, Gandhi will be in Atlanta from January 24 to February 11. He recently completed a year at the University of Illinois, Urbana,as a visiting professor.

Gandhi is the second Halle fellow. When the Halle Institute was inaugurated three years ago, university president Bill Chace stressed Emory's commitment to enhanced internationalization. "We can no longer say the United States is the proper place from which to examine the world's problems; the globe is becoming the essential laboratory for an increasing number of scholars," Chace said. "Today's students will pursue their professions and live their lives in a global neighborhood."

Getting a person of Gandhi's stature spend a few weeks at Halle is precisely one of the goals of the institution, its officials said.

Chace had affirmed at the inauguration of the Halle Institute that it would play a key role in Emory's internationalization effort.

"It will encourage and support international scholarship and teaching throughout the University." He praised the endowment made by Claus and Marianne Halle and said the institute will be "a continuing testament to their wisdom, insight and generosity." Claus Halle was one of the top executives at Coca-Cola for several decades.

"This institute and everything it represents will change the face of Emory," Chace said. "It will help us to be a part of the group of people who will attack the most disturbing and painful problems in the world today."

Last year, Stephen Cohen, senior fellow in foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution, spent two days at Halle and gave a lecture on The Emergence of India as a Great Power.

Given the increase in tension between New Delhi and Islamabad in recent months, especially the hijack of Flight 814 and the Kargil War, the organizers of the January 26 event feel it will kindle a lot of interest on the campus.

Author of Revenge and Reconciliation: Understanding South Asian History, Gandhi has written widely on the Indian independence movement and its leaders, India-Pakistan relations, human rights, and conflict resolution. He also served as a member of Parliament in India and led the Indian delegation to the United Nations Human Rights Commission annual meeting in Geneva.

Gandhi will lecture informally during his three-week stay, and has planned to address faculty, area high schools and colleges, and meet with interfaith organizations. He will also visit Atlanta organizations connected with Martin Luther King Jr. He is expected to address several Indian American organizations in greater Atlanta.

He was chosen as a Halle Fellow at the urging of Marion Creekmore, vice provost for International Affairs and the first director of the Institute.

Creekmore says he has plans to bring more distinguished international visitors to campus as Halle fellows, to arrange faculty and visiting expert-scholars discussion forums on academic and public policy issues, and to facilitate student research abroad.

The event, which will start 1330 on January 26, is open to the public, free of charge. It will be held at The Carter Center.

For more information, call 404-420-5154.

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