Manjula Pradeep

Manjula Pradeep (born 6 October 1969) is an Indian human rights activist and a lawyer. She is the former Executive Director of Navsarjan Trust, one of the largest Dalit rights organizations in India, addressing the issues of caste discrimination and gender based discrimination.

Early life

Manjula Pradeep was born on 6 October 1969 in Vadodara (formerly known as Baroda) in Gujarat in an orthodox Dalit family, shortly after her family migrated from Uttar Pradesh in 1968. Her birth was met with disappointment as her father expected a son, instead of a second daughter. He blamed Manjula's mother for her birth and abused both of them physically and mentally since her birth. Manjula was also sexually abused by four men in her childhood.

Fearing caste discrimination, Manjula's father hid their surname and instead took up a generic name 'Pradeep' as a surname. However, that did not prevent Manjula from discrimination at school. Her teachers and peers often ridiculed her due to her caste; students would call her “ABC,” referring to “BC,” or “Backwards Caste”.

While working at Navsarjan, her first case was of a Dalit woman whose son had died, after being abused in police custody at an Ahmedabad police station. In 2009, Manjula helped win this case where the teachers were sentenced to life imprisonment by the Gujarat High Court. The case was a representation of the intersection of caste, gender and politics in the country. In December 2016, the Union Home Ministry canceled Navsarjan's FCRA certificate implicating that the trust was engaged in “undesirable activities aimed to affect prejudicially harmony between religious, racial, social, linguistic, regional groups, castes or communities”. The cancellation resulted in Navsarjan laying off most of its employees, and left the on-ground activities of the trust across 3,000 villages in the lurch. Manjula was asked to resign from her post as the Executive Director in December 2016.

Current work Manjula cofounded the Dalit Human Rights Defenders Network (DHRDNet) to address issues of Dalit human rights violations in India. Manjula has founded Wise Act of Youth Visioning and Engagement (WAYVE) Foundation, which works for the empowerment and rights of marginalized women and youth in India, building their leadership and awareness about Constitutional Rights.

Manjula is also involved with the National Council of Women Leaders (NCWL) where she serves as the national convener. She is also a member of the Executive Committee of the National Center for Advocacy Studies, India. She represents issues facing Dalits and Dalit women in international forums, such as the United Nations and the European Union, and other international platforms.

Awards

Manjula Pradeep was conferred Woman Peace Maker award for the year 2011 by the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice (IPJ) of the University of San Diego, US. Over the years, she has received Femina Women 2015 Social Impact Award and Jijabai Women Achievers Award in 2017 by University of Delhi.

In 2021, she was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women.