• In this series, activists, business executives, government officials, lawyers, and academics from around the world share topical and current stories of businesses impacting people in their everyday lives. Developed by the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB), this series elevates the range of voices – governments, businesses, and civil society – in the discussion on how to make human rights part of everyday business.
2015-03-30
In January this year, Indian officials at Delhi airport prevented Priya Pillai, a campaigner at Greenpeace India, from boarding a flight to London, where she was invited to speak to an All-Party Parliamentary Group in the United Kingdom about a controversial coal-mining project in central India.
Officials later said she was stopped from leaving because her activities were anti-national. She spoke to them anyway, using Internet-based technology. She sued the government for restricting her, and on 12 March the Delhi High Court ruled in her favour and strongly criticised the Indian government.
IHRB's Salil Tripathi spoke to Priya soon after the judgment. In the conversation she recounts the case and the reason why Greenpeace strongly opposes the coal-mining project. She points out that the campaign is rooted in India with wide support from Indian civil society. And she stresses the importance of dissent and why activism is universal.
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Filetype: MP3 - Size: 9.02MB - Duration: 9:50 m (128 kbps 44100 Hz)