Hindus for Human Rights announced the second annual Swami Agnivesh Memorial Awards in honor of Swami Agnivesh .one of the few Hindu religious leaders to speak out against Hindu nationalism and caste. Swami Agnivesh was inspired by the Hindu teaching of vasudhaiva kutumbakam: “the world is one family,” and he fought for the rights of communities who were not necessarily his own: bonded laborers, religious minorities, Adivasis and caste-oppressed communities. Swami ji was very close to many members of Hindus for Human Rights and HfHR continues to carry forward his legacy through its work.
This year Swami Agnivesh Memorial Award to Khudai Khidmatgar and Mirza Ghalib Victor Begg during “the Celebration of Hope” gala which was co-emceed by HfHR board members Shanti Raman and Sravya Tadepalli. Ms. Raman also leads HfHR’s Australia and New Zealand chapter. The event showcased performances by professional composer and Carnatic vocalist Shruthi Rajasekar, Carnatic vocalist mother-and-son duo Asha Ramesh and Rohith Jayaraman, and Portland-based DJ, DJ Anjali.
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan – a freedom fighter and close friend of Mahatma Gandhi, known also as Badshah Khan, or Sarhadee or Frontier Gandhi – founded Khudai Khidmatgar (Servants of Humanity) in 1929. His contributions to India’s Freedom Struggle and propagation of the values of non-violence and egalitarianism are immense. Khudai Khidmatgar was revived by activist Faisal Khan with his team in New Delhi in 2011. For the past decade, Khudai Khidmatgars have been working across the length and breadth of India on many salient issues including communal harmony, youth leadership, women’s empowerment and education access.
Khudai Khidmatgar worked relentlessly on COVID relief work in several districts across India, serving the poorest communities with ration kits, food, medicine, and oxygen. This year, it opened the Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan library in Mewat, Haryana. Just last month, Khudai Khidmatgar organized an 11-day ‘Save Our Constitution’ cycle yatra from Nagapatnam to Chennai. These are just a few of the innumerable communal harmony initiatives undertaken by Khudai Khidmatgar’s local teams across India.
Sunita Viswanath: Executive Director, Hindus for Human Rights said “We at Hindus for Human Rights see the whole world as one. We tirelessly try to add a Hindu voice to every domain of social justice, and continue our messaging of love, harmony, peace and justice wherever we go”
Faisal Khan ,Inamul Hasaan and Sameera Ahmed from khudai Khidmatgar joined the gala virtually . Faisal Khan ( National Convener Khudai Khidmatgar) said that there’s greater need to need to nurture humane atmosphere in the society as we all need society needs “Insaniyat” or humane approach in long run . He also remebered Swami Agnivesh’s contribution towards the cause and said Swami ji not only worked relentlessly for love , unity and brotherhood but also gave life for the same. We feel honoured for this recognition and also feel this greater responsibility to work for the cause .