VIGIL INDIA MOVEMENT

The Rev. Dr. M.A. Thomas was the founder of Vigil India Movement. He came under the influence of national leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Jayaprakash Narayan, and identified himself fully with the freedom movement during his student days.

In 1963, he founded the Ecumenical Christian Centre in Bangalore and developed it into a meeting place of people of all religious and political views. The Rev. Dr. Thomas served as the President of the India Section of Amnesty International and Association of Christian Institutes for Social Concern in Asia.

It was the Emergency rule of 1975 that galvanized the Rev. Dr. M.A. Thomas into action. The denial of democratic rights by the administration and the failure of the people to react strongly against it caused him great anguish. After much deliberation, he launched the new grass roots human rights organization Vigil India Movement in 1975.

Vigil India Movement was officially inaugurated in 1977 after the lifting of the emergency rule.

He passed away on June 25, 1993. The Board of Trustees of Vigil India Movement instituted the M.A. Thomas National Human Rights Award in 1993 to honour the memory of this practical ecumenist and humanist.

Board of Trustees

The VIM is a registered Trust under the rules and regulations of the Government of India.

The Members of the Board of Trustees:

1.Advocate K. Pratap Reddy ( President) - Senior Lawyer, Human Rights Activist
2.Justice P.P. Bopanna, Jurist, Constitutional and human rights law expert
3.Dr. Mathews George Chunakara, Specialist on International Affairs and Human Rights
4.Dr. M.J. Joseph, , Professor, Environmental Activist
5.Dr. Mani Chacko - Professor, Educationist and social and human rights activist
6.Advocate Mrs. Shyla J. Nair, Lawyer, Women’s rights activist
7.Mrs. Anila George, Educator.

The former members of the Board of Trustees included internationally renowned ecumenist, social thinker, human rights activist late Rev. Dr. M.A. Thomas ( Founder President and Managing Trustee), Justice Nittoor Srinivasa Rau, former Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court, Professor Basheer Hussain, Pofessor of Law and human rights activist, Prof. Dr. N. Isaac, educationist and Gandhian activist, Mr. B.R.P Bhaskar, Media Analyst, senior journalist and human rights activist, Barrister E.D. Devadasson and Dr. Mithra G. Augustine, Educationist .