Bajrang Dal is a Hindu nationalist militant organisation that forms the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). It is a member of the right-wing Sangh Parivar. The ideology of the organisation is based on Hindutva. It was founded on 1 October 1984 in Uttar Pradesh, and began spreading more in the 2010s throughout India, although its most significant base remains the northern and central portions of the country.
The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is an international treaty adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly. Described as an international bill of rights for women, it was instituted on 3 September 1981 and has been ratified by 189 states. Over fifty countries that have ratified the convention have done so subject to certain declarations, reservations, and objections, including 38 countries who rejected the enforcement article 29, which addresses means of settlement for disputes concerning the interpretation or application of the convention. Australia's declaration noted the limitations on central government power resulting from its federal constitutional system. The United States and Palau have signed, but not ratified the treaty. The Holy See, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, and Tonga are not signatories to CEDAW.
The National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR), is a public law school and a National Law University located in Shamirpet, Hyderabad, Telangana, India, and is considered as one of the best law schools in India.
A Khap is a community organisation representing a clan or a group of North Indian castes and clans. They are found mostly in northern India, particularly among the village people of Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh, especially Jats and Gurjars. But also amongst states like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh although historically the term has also been used among other communities. A Khap Panchayat is an assembly of Khap elders, and a Sarv Khap is an assembly of many Khap Panchayats and usually of different castes.
The 2002 Gujarat riots, also known as the 2002 Gujarat violence or the Gujarat pogrom, was a three-day period of inter-communal violence in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The burning of a train in Godhra on 27 February 2002, which caused the deaths of 58 Hindu pilgrims and karsevaks returning from Ayodhya, is cited as having instigated the violence. Following the initial riot incidents, there were further outbreaks of violence in Ahmedabad for three months; statewide, there were further outbreaks of violence against the minority Muslim population of Gujarat for the next year.
Gail Omvedt was an American-born Indian sociologist and human rights activist. She was a prolific writer and published numerous books on the anti-caste movement, Dalit politics, and women's struggles in India. Omvedt was involved in Dalit and anti-caste movements, environmental, farmers' and women's movements, especially with rural women.
Prof. Ghanta Chakrapani is an academician, public intellectual, and the founding chairman of Telangana State Public Service Commission, a position he held from 2014 to 2020. He has also been known as a journalist, writer, public speaker, policy expert and political analyst. At present, he is a senior professor of Sociology and director, Academic at Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad. Associated with people's movements, democratic movements, and rights movements, he became a public intellectual in the region. Since the Bhuvanagiri meeting in 1997, he has been directly associated with the Telangana separate statehood movement and emerged as one of the protagonists of the Telangana agitation, as a writer, public speaker, columnist, and television analyst, he played multiple roles in the spread of Telangana ideology. He is one of the founders of the Peace Initiative Committee, which negotiated with the government and Maoist Naxalites for peace talks in 2004–05. During the talks, the Government of Andhra Pradesh (AP) appointed him as the convenor for the Cease-Fire Monitoring Committee. After the formation of a separate state for Telangana, the government of Telangana appointed Dr. Chakrapani as the first Chairman of TSPSC. After assuming the charge as Chairman, TSPSC, in December 2014, Prof. Chakrapani has introduced several path-breaking reforms and IT initiatives to modernize the conduct of examinations and processing of recruitments.The Hans India, thereby transforming the youngest State PSC in the country into a modern public service commission. The Hindu
Amita Dhanda is an Indian academician and activist. Earlier a Professor of Law, she is now designated as Professor Emerita at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad. She was appointed as a member of the strong 14- Member National Advisory Council for the implementation of the RTE act in 2010. She is also on the Academic Council of Tamil Nadu National Law School. She started her career as a researcher at the Indian Law Institute, Delhi and since then has gone on to become a full-time Professor at NALSAR. She has contributed to the research of Mental Health and disability studies in India and is the head of the Centre for Disability Studies in NALSAR. Amita Dhanda identifies as a feminist and has written several papers based in gender. She has authored three books and is also a guest writer for Kafila, along with few other online news magazines and national dailies. Her expertise also extends to Interpretation Of Statutes, which she holds repute for.
Sharmila Rege was an Indian sociologist, feminist scholar and author of Writing Caste, Writing Gender. She led the Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule Women's Studies Centre, at University of Pune which position she occupied since 1991. She received the Malcolm Adiseshiah award for distinguished contribution to development studies from the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) in 2006.
Flavia Agnes is an Indian women's rights lawyer with expertise in marital, divorce, and property law. She has published articles in the journals Subaltern Studies, Economic and Political Weekly, and Manushi. She writes on themes of minorities and law, gender and law, law in the context of women's movements, and on issues of domestic violence, feminist jurisprudence, and minority rights. She is also a lecturer.
Ritu Menon is an Indian feminist, writer and publisher.
Madabhushi Sridhar Acharyulu is an Indian academic and Information Commissioner. He is presently serving as a Dean, School of Law, Mahindra University. He was once a professor at Nalsar University of Law in Hyderabad and Dean at Bennet University. He's an alumnus of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at Osmania University.
T. Meena Kumari is a retired high court judge of India. She was the first Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court. She previously served as the judge of Andhra Pradesh High Court and Patna High Court.
K G Kannabiran was a human rights activist and a lawyer of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh (AP). He was cofounder and National President of People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL).
Neha Dixit is an Indian freelance journalist covering politics, gender and social justice. She has been awarded over a dozen awards including the Chameli Devi Jain Award (2016) as well as CPJ International Press Freedom Award (2019).
Vijender Kumar is a professor of Law and currently serving as the Vice-Chancellor of Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur, a National Law University in Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. With his experience as a legal professional at Bar Council of India, and also as an Academic administrator in Indian legal realm, Kumar is regarded as one of the authorities on the subject of Family law in India.
Kalpana Viswanath is a social entrepreneur in India. She is the co-founder and CEO of Safetipin, a social enterprise which uses technology and apps to collect data for the safe movement of women in urban spaces. Viswanath is on the advisory board of UN Habitat, International Centre for the Prevention of Crime and SLOCAT. She was part of a study group with Delhi government to prepare a report on Women's Safety in Delhi.
Safoora Zargar is an Indian student activist leader from Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir, best known for her role in the Citizenship Amendment Act protests.
Shalu Nigam is an Indian lawyer, feminist legal scholar, and author. She was the petitioner in the landmark case Shalu Nigam v. Regional Passport Officer, decided on 17 May 2016, which held that passports can be issued without requiring the name of the father.
Kalpana Wilson is an author and scholar with a focus on South Asia. She is a founding member of the South Asian Solidarity Group. She has taught at the London School of Economics, SOAS University of London, and Birkbeck, University of London.
