Sunita Viswanath is an

Indian-American Indian Americans are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from India. The terms Asian Indian and East Indian are used to avoid confusion with Native Americans in the United States, who are also referred to as "Indians" or "Am ...

activist who has worked in women's and human rights organizations. She co-founded the human rights organizations

Women for Afghan Women Women for Afghan Women, also known as WAW, is the largest non-government Afghan women's rights organization in the world, founded in April 2001. It is dedicated to protecting the rights of Afghan women and girls. The staff are mostly Afghans and W ...

, Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus, and Hindus for Human Rights.

Early life and education

Viswanath was born in

Chennai, India Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian censu ...

. She moved between London and Chennai during her early age, and later moved to the US when she was 19. Viswanath received a BA in mathematics from

Douglass College Douglass Residential College is a non-degree-granting program established in 2007 and open to Rutgers undergraduates at any of the degree-granting schools of Rutgers University-New Brunswick. It replaced the liberal arts degree-granting Douglas ...

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

and a MA in sociology from

SNDT Women's University SNDT Women's University, also called by its full name Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey Women's University, is a women's university in the city of Mumbai, India. The university headquarters are at Churchgate in South Mumbai, while the ma ...

Activism

Women for Afghan Women

In 2001, Viswanath co-founded the nonprofit humanitarian organization

(WAW). In 2002, Viswanath edited the volume of essays, ''Women for Afghan Women: Shattering Myths and Claiming the Future.'' Initially founded to support the Afghan community in Queens, WAW expanded in 2005 to support the rights and needs of women in Afghanistan. In 2011, Viswanath was awarded the Feminist Majority Foundation's Global Women's Rights Award for her work with WAW. Viswanath is no longer affiliated with WAW.

Sadhana

In 2011, Viswanath co-founded Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus to be a progressive Hindu movement aligned with social justice commitments to anti-casteism and anti-racism. One of Sadhana's projects, Project Prithvi, aims to protect the environment by cleaning up a beach in Jamaica Bay, Queens. In 2015, she was honored as a White House "Champion of Change" for her work with Sadhana.

Hindus for Human Rights

In 2019, Viswanath co-founded Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR), a US-based advocacy organization that aims to promote religious pluralism in North America and South Asia. In 2021, Viswanath wrote a piece with Raju Rajagopal in favor of the Dismantling Global Hindutva conference in the face of criticism. In May 2021, Viswanath was a named defendant in a defamation case filed by the

Hindu American Foundation The Hindu American Foundation ( ) is an American Hindu non-profit advocacy group founded in 2003. The organisation has its roots in the Hindu nationalist organisation Vishwa Hindu Parishad America and its student wing Hindu Students Council ...

, which was dismissed in 2022.

Columbia University

In 2020, Viswanath was named a Religious Life Adviser at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. Despite a petition claiming she was "anti-Hindu" and asking her to be removed, the university continued to support Viswanath in her role.

Other work

In 2020, Viswanath was appointed by New York City Mayor

Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who was the List of mayors of New York City, 109th mayor of New York City, mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of t ...

to serve on the Faith-Based Sector Advisory Council to advise on the city's

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

response, and in 2021 she was part of Mayor-elect

Eric Adams Eric Leroy Adams (born September 1, 1960) is an American politician and former police officer who has served as the 110th mayor of New York City since 2022. Adams was an officer in the New York City Transit Police and then the New York City P ...

' transition committee. In 2021, Viswanath was named by the

Center for American Progress The Center for American Progress (CAP) is a public policy think tank, research and advocacy organization which presents a Modern liberalism in the United States, liberal viewpoint on Economic policy, economic and social issues. CAP is headquarter ...

as one of 21 faith leaders to watch. Viswanath serves on the advisory boards of UnFreeze Afghanistan and Population Media Center. In March 2022, Viswanath traveled to Afghanistan as part of a Women's Delegation for Peace and Education, which included

Ruth Messinger Ruth Wyler Messinger (born November 6, 1940) is a former American political leader in New York City and a member of the Democratic Party. She was the Democratic nominee for Mayor of New York City in 1997, losing to incumbent mayor Rudy Giulian ...

Medea Benjamin Medea Benjamin (born Susan Benjamin on September 10, 1952) is an American political activist who, along with Jodie Evans and others, co-founded Code Pink.

, Rev. Chloe Breyer, Daisy Khan and Masuda Sultan, to advocate for women's rights and to deliver humanitarian aid. In August 2022, Viswanath and Masuda Sultan co-founde
Abaad: Afghan Women Forward
an

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

which works to provide humanitarian assistance and fund economic programs for women. Its first clients included those formerly served by WAW.

Personal life

Viswanath's first marriage was to writer

Suketu Mehta Suketu Mehta is the New York-based author of ''Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found'', which won the Kiriyama Prize and the Hutch Crossword Award, and was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize, the Lettre Ulysses Prize, the BBC4 Samuel Johnson Pr ...

. Her second marriage was to Stephan Shaw, who is an active member of

Jewish Voice for Peace Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP; ) is an American Jewish anti-Zionist and left-wing advocacy organization. It is critical of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, and supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign ag ...

. She has three sons, Gautama, Akash, and Satya.

References

{{Reflist

External links

ABAAD: Afghan Women Forward
Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American Hindus American women's rights activists People from Chennai Douglass College alumni SNDT Women's University alumni American organization founders