Social activist Swami Agnivesh
NEW DELHI: Renowned social activist, Arya Samaj unconditional and former politician Swami Agnivesh He passed away at age 80 at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences in Delhi on Friday. He suffered from cirrhosis of the liver.
His role as the face of the movement against bonded labor and someone who brought the issue into focus in the 1980s is what will remember Swami Agnivesh the most. In 1981, he founded Bandhua Mukti Morcha, which continues to raise issues related to bonded labor in India. He was the president of the Morcha. tnn
Agnivesh spearheaded the UN anti-slavery fund
Over the years, BMM estimates it has obtained the release of more than 1.72,000 bonded laborers. Internationally recognized, Swami Agnivesh was elected three times Chairman of the UN Trust Fund in Contemporary forms of slavery. Recognition for his work came in the form of various national and international awards, including the International Anti-Slavery Prize in London, 1990, the Prize for Freedom and Human Rights in Bern, 1994, the Rajiv Gandhi Prize for Communal Harmony and he Right Livelihood Award from Sweden, 2004.
Swami Agnivesh was born as Vepa Shyam Rao on September 21, 1939 in Andhra Pradesh. He earned degrees in law and commerce, became a professor at St Xavier’s College in Kolkata. In his student days, he gravitated towards the Arya Samaj.
He eventually immersed himself in political and social activism, leaving Calcutta for Haryana. In 1968, he became a full-time worker at Arya Samaj, and two years later, he embraced sanyas and became Swami Agnivesh. He also founded a political party, the Arya Sabha. His political life began with the fight for the fair share of Haryana, as it emerged as a separate state from Punjab.
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