Gita Sahgal

Gita Sahgal
Sahgal speaking in London, July 2017
Born1956 or 1957 (age 67–68)
Bombay, Bombay State, India
CitizenshipUnited Kingdom
Alma materSchool of Oriental and African Studies[1]
Occupations
ParentNayantara Sahgal (mother)
RelativesVijaya Lakshmi Pandit (grandmother)
Jawaharlal Nehru (great uncle)

Gita Sahgal (born 1956 or 1957)[2][3] is a British writer, journalist, film director, women rights activist and human rights activist, whose work focusses on the issues of feminism, fundamentalism and racism.[4][5]

She has been a co-founder and active member of women's organisations.[1][6] She has also been head of Amnesty International's Gender Unit, and has opposed the oppression of women in particular by religious fundamentalists.[6][7][8]

In February 2010, she was suspended by Amnesty as head of its Gender Unit after she was quoted by The Sunday Times criticising Amnesty for its high-profile associations with Moazzam Begg, director of the campaign group Cage (formerly Cageprisoners), that represents men detained at Guantanamo under extrajudicial conditions. She referred to him as "Britain's most famous supporter of the Taliban".[9][failed verification]

Amnesty responded that she was suspended "for not raising these issues internally". Speaking in her support were novelist Salman Rushdie, journalist Christopher Hitchens and others, who criticised Amnesty for the affiliation. Begg disputed her claims of his jihadi connections and said that he did not consider anyone a terrorist who had not been convicted of terrorism.[10]

Sahgal left Amnesty International on 9 April 2010.[11]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference up was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Mark Townsend (25 April 2010). "Gita Sahgal's dispute with Amnesty International puts human rights group in the dock". The Observer. London. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
  3. ^ Suroor, Hasan (9 February 2010). "Amnesty in row over 'collaborating' with pro-jehadis". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 22 August 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
  4. ^ Guttenplan, D. D.; Margaronis, Maria. "Who Speaks for Human Rights?". The Nation. Archived from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  5. ^ Yuval-Davis, Nira; Kannabiran, Kalpana; Kannabirān, Kalpana; Vieten, Ulrike; Kannabiran, Professor Regional Director Council for Social Development Kalpana (10 August 2006). The situated politics of belonging – Google Books. ISBN 9781412921015. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference fund was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Women Against Fundamentalisms | Variant 16". Variant.org.uk. Archived from the original on 10 September 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
  8. ^ Amit Roy (10 February 2010). "The Telegraph – Calcutta (Kolkata) | Amnesty suspends Nehru kin". The Telegraph. Calcutta. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
  9. ^ Sahgal, Gita (13 May 2010). "Gita Sahgal: A Statement". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference kerbaj was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Bird, Steve (13 April 2010). "Gita Sahgal, who criticised Amnesty's 'pro-jihadi' links, leaves job". The Times. London. Retrieved 12 April 2010.[dead link‍]