Mangaluru : social activist Vidya Dinker has been chosen for the Lawrence Pinto Human Rights Award 2016 by Friends of Lawry, which has instituted the award.
The statement said Ms. Dinker was unanimously chosen for the award, as she has dedicated many years selflessly to fight for people’s rights; taken on the might of the State against the displacement of locals; especially the poor, under the SEZ project; her fight for ecology and in defence of the trees being felled in the name of development and progress; for standing-up bravely against anti-social elements and for doing all this, almost single-handedly and many more.
The award will be presented on January 24 at Kalaangann, Shaktinagar, at 6 p.m. The award carries a citation, public honour and apurse of Rs. 1 lakh.
The former Mangalore University Vice Chancellor M.I. Savadatti would present the award.
Rationalist Narendra Nayak was the recipient of the award last year.
Lawrence Pinto, born in Nagpur on January 26, 1949, had led the Young Christian Workers Movement in Mangaluru and at the national level.
In later years, he joined the trade Union movement and struggled for the working class.