Bondita Acharya

India, CAHR, Autumn 2015

Bondita Acharya

I am Bondita and my journey as a defender of human rights starts as...

I was born in the small town of Jorhat, Assam in the North Eastern part of India 43 years ago in a family of five members. I am born to fight; my activism started in my childhood. Whenever I felt I was discriminated I protested. Sometimes I was taken seriously and sometimes my protests were just ignored because I was a girl. I married to a Gujarati boy. After six and half years of marriage he died of a heart attack 12 years ago and now I am living with my son Palash who is 16 years old.

Glimpse of the region where I am from...

Northeast India comprises of eight states that share five international boundaries and connects to mainland India through a 30 km passage, known as the "Chicken Neck". It is a home to 40 million people with around 200 recognized ethnic groups.
I grew up in this region which has been witnessing a protracted armed conflict for the past 6 decades. The deployment of a huge number of army troops and the implementation of repressive laws in the region fosters a culture of violence and impunity that leads to gross violations of human rights, such as extra judicial executions, sexual violence, disappearances, displacement, etc.

My entry point into the field of human rights...

As WHRDs, we encounter challenges from the state, from non-state actors and from within and outside of our families.

Assam was burning with an Anti-Foreigners Movement in the early eighties. All students of Assam, including me as a 9-year-old girl, were involved in the movement. My father was in prison twice during that time as a political prisoner. With my young mind I did not understand much, but later on I started understanding the human rights situation of the region. I gathered knowledge about the security situation, I started analysing the situation with my limited understanding of human rights and I then finally entered into the process by developing alliances with other women's groups and human rights activists of Northeast India, and formed the network Women in Governance (WinG). With several other women headed NGOs, our organization Purva Bharati Educational Trust has become the member of WinG.

My experiences and challenges as a human rights defender...

I live in a society which is governed by patriarchal norms. So in every step we face challenges as women or as women human rights defenders (WHRD). Being a woman starts from institutional, cultural and social biasness. As WHRDs, we encounter challenges from the state, from non-state actors and from within and outside of our families. We raise issues of human rights violations, the culture of impunity and the situation of women in the conflict at the national and international levels. Our work is being targeted because we are challenging the power structures - both the society and the state.

My organisation and I were personally targeted when we started advocating for the human rights situation in Assam and Northeast India at national and international levels. We are branded as an over ground organisation of a militant group; we are denied legal registration to receive any foreign grants; our funds are blocked; and my name is enlisted in the government's list of suspicious people.

Way forward

In the midst of my professional challenges I have been faced with personal loss. I lost both my parents within a span of two years. They were both my great mental support and strength at the time of crises. I was mentally very upset and struggling with my loss. At that time I received the information about the protective fellowship of CAHR, which I felt is a good opportunity for me to rejuvenate myself to come out of my mental stress.

So, I am here today to reflect on our work, to capitalize on the strengths and lessons we learnt from our experiences, and also to gain skills and knowledge offered by the fellowship.