Karnamadakal Sreenivasa Radhakrishna was born on 12 October 1924 in Siddhavanhalli, in Chitradurga district in the Mysore State in a renowned Gandhian family. From his childhood, he was deeply inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s call of Swaraj. At a young age, he joined the freedom movement. Radhakrishna joined his maternal uncle Siddhavanahalli Krishna Sarma to Sevagram Ashram to work and study in the Nai Taleem School of Mahatma Gandhi in 1939. He participated in the Quit India movement and was imprisoned in Banaras in 1942 in his student days. He completed his post-graduation from Banaras Hindu University in 1946. After the partition of India, he was deputed by the then Government of India to work on rehabilitation and education of the refugees from Multan in Rajpura in Punjab under the guidance of Raj Kumari Amrit Kaur, the first Health Minister.
He settled in the Sewagram Ashram in Wardha district in 1947 and was dedicated to teaching and Gandhian constructive programs and later became the first principal of the Nai Taleem school in Sewagram. He stayed in the Ashram till 1962. He was the All-India Secretary Sarva Seva Sangh, the umbrella body for carrying out all India level Gandhian activities from Banaras till 1962-69. He spent a major part of his life in constructive activities and training Gandhian workers. He actively involved himself with Vinoba Bhave’s Bhoodan and Gramdan movements and was closely associated with Jayprakash Narayan in rural reconstruction and the Total Revolution movement during 1962-77. He was imprisoned along with JP during the Emergency in 1975.
He became the Secretary of the Gandhi Peace Foundation in New Delhi from 1969-91. During the Gandhi Centenary, he organized National and International programs of nonviolence and peace and the Gandhian vision. He was the founder chairperson of the Gandhi Peace Centre from 1979-to 1994 and established 89 organizations throughout India to carry on Gandhian Constructive programs. He was the first Director of Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti. For three decades, he contributed to journals like Sarvodaya, People’s Action, Gandhi Marg, and Everyman’s newspaper.
On 19 June 1994, he breathed his last in New Delhi.
The Nation salutes this great son of India and remembers his sacrifices during this auspicious Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
Source: Dr. Shobhana Radhakrishna, Renowned Gandhian and Chief Functionary of the ‘SCOPE Gandhian Forum for Ethical Corporate Governance’.