Op/Ed: Randhir Singh’s Obituary

Randhir Singh, one of the great Sikh intellectuals of India, gave captivating lectures which drew many generations of students towards Marxism (Courtesy: The Guardian)

My friend Randhir Singh, who has died aged 94, was a Marxist intellectual and spent many years as professor of political science at Delhi University in India, where he was a respected teacher and author.

Born in Patiala in northern pre-partition India, he was the son of Gursaran, a physician and surgeon, and Dalip (nee Kaur), a housewife who died when he was seven. Growing up in Lahore, Randhir was influenced in his childhood by the ideals of the Punjabi socialist Bhagat Singh, who was hanged by the British authorities in 1931 while Randhir was still at primary school.

Later, when Randhir was pursuing studies in Lahore at Sikh National College and later the University of the Punjab, he became involved in leftwing student movements, spending a short time in jail for his activities and eventually working on the editorial staff of the Communist party’s Punjabi weekly Jang-i-Azadi newspaper. Around this time he also wrote a biography of Baba Gurmukh Singh, a key figure in the Ghadar movement of returned Indian migrants fighting against the British.

Later on, in 1950, Randhir published a book of his poems written in Punjabi, Rahan Di Dhoor, and then attracted critical acclaim in the world of political science with his book Reason, Revolution and Political Theory (1967), a Marxist critique of the work of the conservative philosopher and political theorist Michael Oakeshott.

In his magnum opus, Crisis of Socialism (2006), Randhir displayed a remarkable understanding of the emerging vision of eco-socialism in a 1,100-page critique of both capitalism and old Soviet-style socialism. Spending most of his working life at Delhi University, he was one of the greatest Sikh intellectuals in India.

Many generations of students from diverse backgrounds were first drawn to Marxism by his captivating lectures, including myself.

He is survived by his wife, Mohinder Kaur, by two daughters, Shimareet and Priyaleen, and by two grandsons, Nishant and Anant.

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