Nighat Pandit stepped out of a comfortable home to address the trauma of people in a 16-year-long conflict. She focuses on helping orphans and widows, and promoting peace and intercommunal harmony. Braving physical danger and other risks, Nighat Shafi Pandit (born 1951) works with rural communities in violence-scarred Jammu and Kashmir. Belonging to a well-known […]
Initially, some upper-caste Hindu women refused to accept Chaggi’s leadership because she is a tribal woman. Her strength and ability soon made them come round. Chaggi Bai Bhil (born 1958), a single woman and a tribal, left her husband because of his violence, and became part of the women’s movement. In 1999, when the Association […]
Kishwar uses a unique approach to psychotherapy in India, involving not just a feminist questioning of patriarchal constructs, but also using Buddhism, Sufism, and other local traditions as resources. Kishwar Ahmed Shirali (born 1937) was set on the road to becoming an activist as she grew up: she moved toward the mental health of women […]
Friction was inevitable, and Roshanben was often at the center of it all, trying her best to maintain peace and rallying people around to the common cause of survival. Roshanben M Shaikh (born 1950) showed rare courage by marrying again after her husband died, leaving her with two little daughters-and then walking out of the […]
“You think your pain is the biggest, then you look around and see others with bigger pain than yours; you forget your pain and start helping others.” Maninder “Meenu” Sodhi (born 1951) has channeled the anguish and the wisdom that comes from being the mother of a child with disability to reach out and help […]
Krishna treated her disabled children, and those of others, as she would any other youngsters, and drew as much strength and sustenance from them as she gave them. Krishna Kumar (born 1944) has two daughters with cerebral palsy and understands the anxieties of parents with disabled children. In 1987, she formed the Handicapped Children’s Parents […]
Nalini speaks with awe about the stamina and dexterity of the women who process and sell fish. She speaks with rage about the processes that undermine their very livelihoods. Before Nalini Nayak (born 1946) stepped in, small fishworkers were among the most unorganized groups in Kerala. She has since helped them set up cooperatives and […]
Being a feminist involved with human rights concerns, Nandita faced problems on the ideological front. It was important to create a synergy between the then parallel movements. In her three decades as a feminist and human rights lawyer, Nandita Haksar (born 1955) has contributed immensely to the development of a rights-based perspective on complex political […]
“I could not imagine living as a daughter-in-law, confined to home. However, I had no other role model. I knew what I did not want, but every time my mother asked me what I wanted, I drew a blank.” Abha Bhaiya (born 1948) sees herself as a product of the last wave of the feminist […]
Ajeet Cour understands the epiphanic role the cultural capital of nations can play in peace-building processes, particularly on the subcontinent. Ajeet Cour (born 1934), one of the best-known writers in the Punjabi language, believes that the arts and literature can help build bridges across cultures. She set up the Foundation of Saarc Writers and Literature, […]
