Bangalore: Ramya Jawahar Kudekallu, a 32-year-old lawyer from Bengaluru, who has been appointed chair of the New York Bar’s International Human Rights Committee, is ready to take on great challenges in terms of solving the community’s difficulties and ‘Impact’ in the system to ensure changes.
“I was nominated for the Committee after the background checks and I am extremely happy to have been confirmed with a esteemed honorary title. The Committee did not have a woman of color as chair all these days. They also chose a young, non-white woman. I am prepared to take the risks associated with this responsibility. Fighting for human rights is always a challenge, whether in India or elsewhere. New York is comparatively safer, ”Kudekallu told IANS.
Its role is to lead the work of the committee, to continue the work in progress, to see how it can intervene in the problems of the oppressed and how to bring legal analysis to light.
Kudekallu was educated in Ooty and Dubai and studied law at Bishop Cotton Women’s Christian Law College, Bengaluru. She did her Masters in International Law and Human Rights at Fordham University, New York. She currently teaches at Cardozo Law School in New York.
Her mother, Dr Amitha Malaki, is a gynecologist in Kodagu. “My father was a senior lawyer for Sullia. I lost him to Covid at the same time the new assignment arrived, “she said. Her appointment was made on September 18, 2021.
She said her association with the Alternative Law Forum (ALF) had been extremely influential. “Here I learned what ‘representation’ is. The shift in perspective of placing “community difficulties” has happened here.
“Currently, refugees are arriving in the United States from Afghanistan. We need to account for their situation and contextualize their difficulties. There is a resettlement process and a funding process involved, ”she adds.
Kudekallu also notes that “the situation for the common man in India and the United States is similar when it comes to inequalities, although the context may look different.
“The United States may be a developed country and India may be on the path to development disparity, but the inequality is the same. The plight of the poor is also similar. In India, one finds mainly inequalities based on castes and classes. The oppressed classes and tribes are fighting in India. While in the United States, it is African Americans, Native Americans and others who are fighting for their rights.
Asked about the movement of returning farmers to India, she said India has signed international human rights treaties and must adhere to them. If there are individuals and organizations that fight for human rights or raise concerns about it, it is the government’s duty to tackle the problem, she stressed.
His advice to young people is: “If you have a path that is of public interest, engagement must continue whether appreciation comes or not.” The will to have the commitment to transform society must continue.
“My mind is really in India although I am physically in the United States,” Kudekallu said. She stresses that relinquishing power and class privileges is the need of the moment. His point of view is well received by the committee, although opinion is mixed when it comes to a wider audience.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by the English staff at Sambad and is published from a syndicated feed.)
