24, Jun 2020 | Sutrishna Ghosh

Among the seventeen global personalities who have been chosen to be conferred with the prestigious Honorary Doctorate degree from the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada, in 2020, is Indian minority rights activist Teesta Setalvad.

The full list detailing the names and achievements of the 2020 Honorary Degree Recipients has been released on the official site of UBC. Apart from Teesta, this list includes other prominent names like celebrated Canadian actor of First Nations/Métis descent, Tantoo Cardinal; first ever Principal Dancer of Chinese-Canadian heritage at The National Ballet of Canada, Chan Hon Goh; Canadian author Lawrence Hill; pianist and composer Doug Johnson; anti-racism leader and activist, Keiko Mary Kitagawa, among others.

The list was announced late Monday, with UBC making the news public via their official Twitter account.

“#UBC announces 2020 honorary degrees, recognizing seventeen individuals for making substantial contributions to society,” the tweet read along with a link to the complete list of recipients.

With this, Teesta, who is an award-winning journalist and a civil rights activist and was instrumental in the campaign for justice for the victims of the 2002 massacre of close to 2,000 Muslims in Gujarat, will be joining the ranks of other prominent personalities from across the world to be conferred with this honour.

On its website, UBC recognised the activist for her contribution in the field of “human rights and law to expose majoritarianism and religious fanaticism in India and other parts of the world”.

“She has also been influential on issues concerning rights of women, religious minorities, indigenous persons, and forest dwelling communities,” the site mentioned.

The honour which comes at a crucial time, as the world battles COVID-19 pandemic and its socio-political fallout, was supposed to be conferred on Teesta and the other recipients during a ceremony in Vancouver in late May. However due to the travel restrictions imposed worldwide, media reports claimed that UBC will host the ceremony at a later date.

(Edited by Javed Gaihlot)

The original article may be read here.