Veeru Kohli

Veeru Kohli (born 1964) is a Pakistani bonded labor and human rights activist.[1] She is known for starting to campaign against slavery after twenty years of living in bondage herself.

Personal life

She was born to a poor Hindu scheduled caste agricultural labourer's family in Allahdino Shah village in Jhuddo, Sindh province, and was married at the age of 16 into a family bonded to their landlord.[2][3] She is now a widow with 11 children.[2] Her name is sometimes written as Veero Kohli.

Campaigning

In 2013, she ran as an independent candidate in the Hyderabad provincial elections.[4][5]

She had previously been a slave in southern Pakistan but escaped her captors.[6]

After being forced back into bondage and suffering beatings she stood up to the authorities and gained her freedom,[3] with help from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in Hyderabad.[2] Her experiences inspired her to campaign for freedom for others. This meant she, as a Saraiki speaker, had to learn Urdu to enable her to communicate with a wide range of people. Oxfam have helped her promote her ideas and develop her confidence.[3]

In 2009 she was given the Frederick Douglass Freedom Award by the Free the Slaves organisation.[2][7]

Azad Nagar

Azad Nagar is the settlement that Veeru Kohli built with help from a local NGO Green Rural Development Organization (GRDO) and Action Aid in 2006. It was planned as a place where freed bonded labourers would live temporarily as they began their new lives. It has 310 families over 4.5 hectares of land. Most of the residents are Hindu.[8]

References
  1. "Women activists stress need for transformative feminist leadership". The Nation. November 21, 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  2. "Veeru Kohli: From bonded labourer to election hopeful", Dawn.com, 24 April 2014.
  3. A brick-solid activist, Express Tribune, 13 Dec 2015
  4. Repila, Jacky (4 July 2013). "Veeru Kohli – the ultimate outsider". Oxfam. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  5. Green, Duncan (23 July 2013). "Women's Leadership Groups in Pakistan – Some Good News and Inspiration". World Bank. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  6. Mehmood, Rabia (21 September 2014). "Home of the Free: Starting a New Life in Pakistan's Azad Nagar, A Colony of Ex-Slaves". Aljazeera America. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  7. Free the Slaves
  8. "The former bonded labourer who took on the Bhuttos".
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