An active Human Rights activist and Yoga master, Amit’s areas of interest are religious conflict, multiculturalism, refugees, extremism, freedom of expression, and international human rights law. Shruti profiles the Varanasi-born youth, a shining star, now.

Amit is a human rights researcher born in Varanasi, India. He studied history, human rights and yoga in India, China, Thailand, and Norway. Inspired by the ideals of his mother, Vijay Laxmi Singh, a retired school headmaster, Amit aspired to bring change to the lives of people through human rights and yoga.

His particular areas of interest are religious conflict, multiculturalism, refugees, extremism, freedom of expression, and international human rights law. He was granted a thesis research award by the Norwegian NGO Fritt Ord, to conduct research on the conflict between Freedom of Expression and religious intolerance.

Amit has worked with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, the United Nations Development Project, the National Human Rights Commission of India, and NGOs working at the grassroots level in India and Thailand. He has been invited to present his research paper in various national and international forums, including University of Massachusetts, York University, Canada, and at the International Association on the Study of Forced Migration.

He was also the president of the International Students’ Union at the Buskerud University College, Drammen, Norway. In November 2014, he organised a signature campaign to support Right to Free Education in Norway, to protest the Norwegian government’s attempt to charge education fees from non-EU students. Amit was interviewed in local Norwegian and international newspapers and magazines for his student leadership activity.

During his studies in Human Rights at Mahidol University, Thailand, Amit was elected the Brand Ambassador of the university. He was instrumental in establishing the Community of International Students at Mahidol University, to assist flood victims in November 2011, in Thailand.

When in Thailand, Amit researched on Pakistani Ahmadi refugees, and worked with Amnesty International and Asylum Access. In his hometown, Varanasi, he is a permanent volunteer with People Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) – a local NGO working on the issues of caste discrimination and police torture.

As a yoga master, Amit has served the Union Nations and numerous yoga centres globally. He was invited to China, Thailand, and Philippines to conduct yoga workshops. He demonstrated yoga in the pre-Olympic ceremony in China.

Amit is the founder director of the Norway-Indo Human Care, a consultancy firm providing expert advice on human rights issues and stress-related subjects.

He is driven by a philosophy, which considers the world to be a global family. And, he wants to remove human suffering from the global family – through the promotion of human rights and yoga.

Currently, Amit is a Norway-based Human Rights consultant, where he works for Universal Tolerance Organization. As a project co-ordinator, Amit was instrumental in organising the first Global Tolerance Forum (GTF) on September 17, 2015, in Drammen, Norway. Global Tolerance Forum was a step in the direction of highlighting the burning issue of rise of extremism. In addition, GTF also discussed the importance of tolerance in contemporary World where the cause of many conflict is due to the intolerance towards liberal values. GTF was a platform for European and Asian think tank that deliberated as how tolerance can solve the problem of many human rights conflict. GTF speakers included Ex prime minister Norway- Kjell Magna Bondevik, Loretta Nanpoleoni, Haras Rafiq, Suleman Nagdi etc. For GTF, Lenin Reghuvansi was selected from India due to his significant contribution in the field of human rights. Especially his effort to highlight the topic of Pluralism and tolerance in Asia is remarkable. Lenin raised the issue of prevailing climate of intolerance in India and was critical towards the current Prime minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi’s fascist policy towards Muslims and blinds support to big Corporate who is exploiting poor Indian masses. Surprisingly, after Lenin highlighted issue of intolerance in Drammen, Indian political scene was stormed with the heated debate on the rising tidal wave of intolerance which is continue until now.

Amit’s work is intended to influence policy changes in India and Europe in the context of Human Rights and human security.

Shruti Nagvanshi

Shruti is a social activist and co-founder of People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Right (PVCHR), India. A strong activist in favour of justice for the downtrodden, aptly describes Shruti's persona. She has won many national and international awards for her work in promoting social justice and defending rights of the marginalised, vulnerable Dalit women and children, mainly in the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh, India.

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