Professor Dhirubhai Sheth, Honorary Fellow and former Director of CSDS passed away on 7 May 2021. He was 85 and had been ailing for some time.

Dhirubhai was among the founder members of CSDS, joining the Centre in November 1964 and remaining associated with it till his retirement in 1996. During this time, he wrote and commented voluminously on the nature of democracy, modernization, human rights and social movements in India and abroad. His edited volumes include Citizens and Parties (1995), with Ashis Nandy, Multiverse of Democracy (1996) and with Gurpreet Mahajan, Minority Identities and the Nation-State (1999). Several of his essays have been recently compiled and published in the volume At Home with Democracy: A Theory of Indian Politics (ed. Peter deSouza, 2018). A translation of his essays is available in the volume Satta aur Samaj (ed. Abhay Dubey, 2009).

Prof. Sheth co-edited the international journal Alternatives for several years. He also served as the Director of CSDS from 1984 to 1987 and was a member of the Board of Governors from 2006 to 2011. In 2001, CSDS invited him as an Honorary Fellow, which he remained till date.

Dhirubhai had a deep passion for institution building. He was instrumental in setting up several programmes at the Centre, serving as Chair of the Lokniti Programme on Comparative Democracy for several years and helping set up the Indian Languages Programme. He was also strongly committed to bringing together scholarly life with public engagement.  He was a founder member of Lokayan, a movement for alternatives in politics and development, and served as the President of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (1991-93) and as Member (Social Scientist) of the National Backward Classes Commission (1993-1996).

Dhirubhai will be deeply missed by his friends, colleagues and admirers.