Suvira Jaiswal is former Professor of History at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She did her M.A. in History from Allahabad University and Ph.D. from Patna University under the supervision of Professor Ram Sharan Sharma. She began her teaching career at Patna University in 1962 and later, in 1971, joined the Centre for Historical Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, where she taught till her retirement in 1999. Her major publications include The Origin and Development of Vaishnavism (first edition 1967, enlarged second edition 1981) and Caste: Origin, Function and Dimensions of Change (1998). She was General President of the Andhra Pradesh History Congress in 2002 and General President of the Indian History Congress in 2007.
The late R. Sundara Rajan was Professor of Philosophy at the University of Poona, Pune, Fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, and Senior Fellow at the Indian Council of Philosop
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o won the Lotus Prize for Literature in 1973. He is the author of such celebrated novels as Weep Not, Child (1964), A Grain of Wheat (1967), Petals of Blood (1977) and Wizard of
Olivier Besancenot lives in France, where he works as a postal carrier. He received 1,498,581 votes in the first round of the French presidential elections in 2007.
Abdul Rahman Siddiqi is a retired Brigadier of the Pakistan Army. He was born and brought up in Delhi which he had to leave for Lahore during Partition. He now lives in Karachi.
