Meenakshi Ganguly

Before taking over as South Asia Director, Meenakshi Ganguly served as Human Rights Watch's South Asia researcher since 2004.

In India, she has investigated a broad range of issues from police reform to discrimination against marginalized groups, and has researched abuses surrounding the sectarian riots in Gujarat, the lack of justice in Punjab, issues of religious freedom, the failure to protect India's vulnerable communities--including those affected by the Maoist conflict, and abuses related to the fighting in the states of Manipur and Jammu & Kashmir. She has also advocated for the protection of women and children from violence, including sexual abuse. She has also advocated a human rights approach to India's foreign policy particularly on countries like Burma and Sri Lanka.

In Nepal, Ganguly continues to press for accountability around rights violations during the armed conflict and pushed for reform to bring abusive members of the government forces and the Maoist combatants to justice. With the end of Sri Lanka's conflict, she advocated that human rights abusers in the Sri Lankan military, as well as in the Tamil Tigers' forces, be held accountable. Ganguly has researched the issue of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal, as well as discrimination against ethnic Nepali citizens living in Bhutan, and has documented human rights violations in Bangladesh and called for better protections of labor rights. Additionally, she has worked on issues such as protection of children during conflict, discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS, as well as the rights of men who have sex with men.

Prior to joining Human Rights Watch, Ganguly served as the South Asia correspondent for Time Magazine, covering Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Ganguly has a Masters in Sociology from the Delhi School of Economics.

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