Ram Narayan Kumar (1956-2009) was an independent political activist and thinker based in Delhi and Kathmandu. He served as the Director of the South Asian Orientation Course in Human Rights and Peace Studies at SAFHR, playing a prominent role in human rights, democracy, and peace advocacy since 1975.

He endured 19 months of imprisonment during the Emergency for his vocal opposition. Kumar authored impactful books, including major works on Panjab, such as 'The Sikh Struggle' and 'Reduced to Ashes.' His mid-life political autobiography, 'Confronting the Hindu Sphinx,' and a comprehensive volume on human rights studies underscore his commitment. Kumar's leadership extended to conducting courses on Human Rights at SAFHR, influencing participants across South Asia.

Jaskaran Kaur, Co-Founder and Co-Director of Ensaaf, has authored several seminal reports on human rights abuses in India, including "Protecting the Killers: A Policy of Impunity in Punjab, India," "Twenty Years of Impunity: The November 1984 Pogroms of Sikhs in India," and, as a contributing author, "Reduced to Ashes: The Insurgency and Human Rights in Punjab."

From 2003 to 2005, Jaskaran received the Irving R. Kaufman Fellowship from Harvard Law School. In 2001, she went to Panjab on a Harvard Human Rights Program Summer Fellowship to study the judiciary's role in handling habeas corpus petitions filed before the Panjab and Haryana High Court by families of the disappeared. Her study was published in the Harvard Human Rights Journal. Jaskaran graduated with distinction from Yale College and Harvard Law School.

Amrik Singh

Ashok Agrawal