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Luminaries who signed the Open Letter in 2006

N.B.: Listing of institutional affiliations does not imply that these organizations necessarily endorse the Open Letter.

  • Vikram Seth, Author

  • Swami Agnivesh

  • Soli Sorabjee, former Attorney-General

  • Aditi Desai, Sociologist

  • Nitin Desai, former UN Under-Secretary General

  • Captain Lakshmi Sahgal, freedom fighter, Padma Vibhushan

  • Siddharth Dube

  • Rukun Advani, Author/Publisher

  • MJ Akbar, Editor-in-Chief, Asian Age & Deccan Chronicle

  • Ashok Alexander, Director, Avahan, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

  • Subashni Ali, President, All India Democratic Women's Association

  • Arjun Appadurai, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, and John Dewey Professor in the Social Sciences, The New School for Social Research

  • Kanti Bajpai, Headmaster, The Doon School

  • Runa Banerjee, CEO, SEWA Lucknow

  • Kaushik Basu, Professor of Economics, Cornell University

  • Upendra Baxi, Professor of Law, University of Warwick

  • Pooja Bedi, Actress

  • Shyam Benegal, internationally-acclaimed film director and Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha

  • Amita Baviskar, Associate Professor, Institute of Economic Growth

  • Prashant Bhushan, advocate, Supreme Court, and civil rights activist

  • Urvashi Butalia, author, publisher and activist

  • Uma Chakravarty, Vedic Scholar and Feminist Historian

  • Geeta Chandran, Founder President, Natya Vriksha

  • Purnendu Chatterjee, Chairman, Chatterjee Group

  • Gerson Da Cunha, Trustee, AGNI (Action for Good Governance and Networking in India)

  • Maja Daruwala, human rights activist

  • Nandita Das, award-winning actress and activist

  • Veena Das, Professor, Johns Hopkins University

  • PR Dasgupta, former secretary education and social welfare, first head  of the National AIDS programme

  • Mahesh Dattani, playwright, Sahitya Akademi Award 1998

  • Devika Daulet-Singh, photographer

  • John Dayal, Member, National Integration Council, Govt of India

  • Shobhaa De, best-selling author and columnist

  • Astad Deboo, choreographer & dancer

  • Armaity Desai, Former Director, Tata Inst. of Social Sciences & Former Chairman, University Grants Commission

  • Anil Divan, Senior Advocate

  • Darryl D'Monte, environmental journalist & author

  • Dilip D'Souza, author and journalist

  • JB D'Souza, former Maharashtra Chief Secretary and Bombay Municipal Commissioner (IAS retd)

  • Neela D'Souza, writer

  • Bharat Dube, Counsel, Richemont Group S.A.

  • Barkha Dutt, Managing Editor, NDTV

  • Mallika Dutt, Breakthrough, National Citizen's Award 2001

  • Rajiv Dutta, President, Skype

  • Rehaan Engineer, actor

  • Naresh Fernandes, Editor, Time Out Mumbai

  • Meenakshi Ganguly, Human Rights Watch

  • Amitav Ghosh, author, Sahitya Akademi Award 1990

  • Sagarika Ghose, author, and Senior Editor, CNN-IBN

  • Shohini Ghosh, Filmmaker and Lecturer, Jamia Millia Islamia

  • Anand Grover, Human Rights Lawyer

  • Ramachandra Guha, Social Anthropologist, Historian

  • Satish Gujral, Artist, Sculptor

  • Ruchira Gupta, activist and Emmy-winning journalist

  • Syeda Hameed, Member of the Planning Commission

  • Zoya Hasan, Professor of Political Science, Jawaharlal Nehru University

  • Tanuja Desai Hidier, author and musician

  • Indira Jaising, Human Rights Lawyer

  • Ashok Jethanandani, editor, India Currents

  • Ruchir Joshi, writer

  • Sudhir Kakar, psychoanalyst and author

  • Mira Kamdar, author, Senior Fellow, World Policy Institute

  • Coomi Kapoor, Indian Express

  • Sanjay Kapoor, Vice President, Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems

  • Bachi Karkaria, Author and Columnist, Times of India

  • Girish Karnad, Playright, Actor

  • Soha Ali Khan, actor

  • Zila Khan, classical singer

  • Sunil Khilnani, Director of South Asian Studies, Johns Hopkins

  • Shanno Khurana, Classical vocalist, Padmabhushan, Fellow (Ratna Sadasya) Sangeet Natak Akademi

  • Saleem Kidwai, Historian and Co-editor, Same-Sex Love in India

  • Purab Kohli, Actor

  • Amitava Kumar, writer, Professor of English, Vassar College

  • Radha Kumar, author and professor, Jamia Millia Islamia

  • Jhumpa Lahiri, author, Pulitzer Prize 2000

  • Ruby Lal, Assistant Professor of South Asian Civilizations, Emory University

  • Rama Mani, Geneva Centre for Security Policy

  • Sonal Mansingh, acclaimed danseuse and Padma Vibhushan

  • Ajay K. Mehra, Director, Centre for Public Affairs

  • Suketu Mehta, author, Kiriyama Prize 2005

  • Nivedita Menon, Department of Political Science, Delhi University

  • Aziz Mirza, Filmmaker

  • Saeed Mirza, Filmmaker

  • Sophie Moochala, businesswoman

  • Shubha Mudgal, vocalist, Padmashree Award 2000

  • Mira Nair, internationally acclaimed film director

  • Ashish Nandy, political psychologist and sociologist

  • Kuldip Nayar, author and columnist

  • Derek O'Brien, author and television quiz master

  • Onir, film director, My Brother Nikhil

  • Pankaj Pachauri, Senior Editor, NDTV

  • Dileep Padgaonkar, former Chief Editor, Times of India, member of the Minorities Commission

  • Latika Padgaonkar, art and cine expert

  • Amol Palekar, Filmmaker

  • Gopika Pant, Partner, DSK Legal

  • Gyanendra Pandey, Distinguished Professor of Arts and Sciences, Emory Unviversity

  • Kirit Parikh, Member, Planning Commission

  • Vibha Parthasarathi, ex-Chairperson, National Commission for Women

  • Vibhuti Patel, journalist

  • Pradip Prabhu, Activist, Kasthakari Sangathan

  • Sanjay Pradhan, Director, Public Sector Governance, The World Bank

  • Rajeswari Sunder Rajan, Global Distinguished Professor (Elect), New York University

  • Rahul Ram, Indian Ocean band

  • Raka Ray, Professor of South Asian Studies, Univ of California, Berkeley

  • Debraj Ray, Julius Silver Professor of Economics, New York University

  • Aruna Roy, Mazdoor Kisaan Shakti Sangathan, Ramon Magsaysay Award 2000

  • Arundhati Roy, Activist and Author.  Booker Prize 1997

  • Sandip Roy, Editor, New America Media and Trikone Magazine

  • Sanjoy Roy, managing director, Teamwork Films

  • Sarika, Actress

  • Siddharth Dhanvant Sanghvi, Author

  • Mallika Sarabhai, dancer

  • Mrinalini V.  Sarabhai, dancer and choreographer, Padma Shree 1965, Padma Bhushan 1992

  • Rajdeep Sardesai, editor-in-chief CNN-IBN

  • Madhu Sarin, psychoanalyst

  • Sumit Sarkar, social historian

  • Tanika Sarkar, historian and Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University

  • Vir Sanghvi, Anchor, Writer, and Editorial Director, Hindustan Times

  • NC Saxena, former Secretary Planning Commission and Rural Development, and Director, LBS National Academy of Administration

  • Aparna Sen, acclaimed director and actor

  • Atul Setalvad, Senior Advocate

  • Teesta Setalvad, Communalism Combat

  • Konkona Sen Sharma, actress

  • Malvika Singh, Publisher, Seminar

  • Dayanita Singh, photographer

  • Kirti Singh, Advocate and Women's Rights Activist

  • Seema Sirohi, columnist

  • Sreenath Sreenivasan, Professor, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism

  • Vidya Subrahmaniam, Deputy Editor, The Hindu

  • Nandini Sundar, Professor, Delhi School of Economics

  • Admiral (Rtd.) R.H. Tahiliani, former Chief of the Indian Navy and Governor of Sikkim, Chairman, Transparency International India

  • Tarun Tahiliani and Sal Tahiliani, designers

  • Tarun Tejpal, editor and founder of Tehelka

  • Dolly Thakore, theatre personality

  • Tilottama Tharoor, Humanities Professor, New York University

  • Laila Tyabji, Chairperson, DASTKAR

  • Nilita Vachani, documentary-maker, President's Award 1992

  • Ruth Vanita, author and professor, University of Montana

  • Siddharth Varadarajan, Deputy Editor, The Hindu

  • B.G. Verghese, former editor of several national papers, and human rights and development activist

  • Jafar Zaheer, Air Vice Marshal (retd, Param Vishist Seva Medal), and Mrs Rafath Zaheer

  • Shama Zaidi, script writer and film maker

 

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