A conversation with Harsh Mander on his new book Burning Pyres, Mass Graves and a State That Failed Its People: India’s Covid Tragedy.

Dr. Harsh Mander, a Ph.D from Vrije University, Amsterdam is an author, columnist, researcher, teacher and a human rights activist who works with survivors of mass violence, hunger, homeless persons, and street children. Dr. Mander formerly worked in the Indian Administrative Services (IAS), serving in the predominantly tribal states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh for almost two decades.  In 2017, he started the Karwan-e-Mohabbat campaign in solidarity with victims of communal violence. He is the author of over 25 books and writes regular columns for Indian Express, The Hindu, Scroll, The Wire, and Hindustan Times. He is currently leading the Centre for Equity Studies,  a research organisation based in New Delhi and teaches courses on Poverty and Governance at IIM Ahmedabad. He also served as Special Commissioner to the Supreme Court of India in the Right to Food Campaign and was a member of the National Advisory Council of the Government of India, set up under the UPA government.

Dr. Harsh Mander is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award for peace work, the South Asian Minority Lawyers Award, M.A. Thomas National Human Rights Award, among others. In 2022, he was shortlisted for the Nobel Peace Prize by the Peace Research Institute, Oslo.

Date: 5 November 2023

Time: 3pm

Venue: Himalaya 105

October 2023