'Naxalite' Kobad Ghandy to write memoir on his wife

Kobad Ghandy, the politburo member of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist, will utilise his time in Tihar Jail to write a book on wife Anuradha, who was his comrade- in-arms for two decades in the naxalite movement.

Sources said the 59-year-old Ghandy is writing a memoir of Anuradha, another politburo member who died due to cerebral malaria in April last year, in jail and has requested the authorities for paper to write the book. Ghandy, who is in charge of spreading Maoist influence in urban areas and its publishing wing, is at present lodged in Tihar jail after he was arrested on September 21, by Delhi Police's Special Cell following intelligence inputs.

When contacted, Tihar Jail spokesperson Sunil Kumar Gupta said it was their policy to promote and encourage prison inmates to undertake creative pursuits. However, he said, the jail authorities were not aware of what Ghandy is writing. "If an inmate wants to write, we will not discourage. We will encourage creative pursuits of our inmates," he said. Ghandy had married Anuradha, a graduate of Mumbai's Elphinstone College, in 1983 and they worked with tribals and beedi workers in Maharashtra's Chandrapur before moving to tribals areas in Dhule and Nandurbar districts. The couple also decided not to have children so that they could utilise their time fully for the organisation.