The year 2019-2020 marked the 150 birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi that was widely commemorated in India and in many parts of the world remembering Gandhiji’s philosophy and teachings.
During his education of law in the UK, Gandhiji developed firm faith in the principles and merits of the rule of law. Ironically, this faith was severely challenged when he moved as a lawyer to assist some Indian origin businessmen in South Africa. There, Gandhiji came face to face not only with violations of the sacrosanct principles of the rule of law but also the discrimination built in the laws themselves. This shock laid the foundation of barrister Gandhi’s journey in the process of making of a mahatma. Though Gandhiji’s commitment to Swaraj through Satyagraha has a much wider global appeal, his path to sainthood was inseparably intertwined with his experiences with the Indian diaspora. 
In keeping with Antar Rashtriya Sahayog Parishad (ARSP’s) pioneering work with Indian diaspora, Diaspora Research and Resource Centre of ARSP, in collaboration with Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti, New Delhi organised a series of conferences on the theme ‘Gandhi and diaspora’, which were attended by over 100 experts from India and abroad.
This book is a compilation of the proceedings, presentations and the outcomes of these important events. We hope, this publication would be useful to academics and scholars dealing with Gandhian teachings, ideology and diaspora studies.

Dr. Ruchi Verma
Research Fellow, Diaspora 
Research and Resource Centre
Antar Rashtriya Sahayog Parishad
Narayan Kumar
Hon. Director, Antar 
Rashtriya Sahayog Parishad
Amb. Anup Mudgal
Chairperson, Diaspora Research 
and Resource Centre Antar 
Rashtriya Sahayog Parishad