Guwahati-based lawyer Aman Wadud has been selected for the prestigious Fulbright-Nehru Master’s Fellowship.

The human rights lawyer, who has been providing support to people who are at risk of being stripped of their citizenship rights in Assam, has been selected for the prestigious fellowship to do his LLM in the United States next year at an Ivy League Law School.

“I will pursue a Master of Laws in the US on Comparative Constitutional law and International Human Rights Law. After I return, I want to resume litigation and continue defending the most marginalised section of society. I want to make meaningful contributions towards prohibiting statelessness and uphold constitutional values. Very few from this part of the world get this kind of opportunity. I want to make the best of it and work hard to inspire more people,” an elated Aman told The News Mill.

Fulbright-Nehru Master’s Fellowships are designed for Indians to pursue a master’s degree program at select US colleges and universities in the areas of arts and culture management including heritage conservation and museum studies; economics; environmental science/studies; higher education administration; international affairs; international legal studies; public administration; public health; urban and regional planning; and women’s studies/gender studies.

Indian scholars are selected through a rigorous application and interview process. Once selected, awardees receive support navigating the visa processing and securing health insurance, as well as a comprehensive pre-departure orientation.

Earlier this year, he was invited by to speak on citizenship and statelessness at Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Law School, Massachesetts Institute of Technology Yale Law School and Columbia Law School. On March 4 this year he testified before United States Commission on International Religious Freedom at Capitol Hill, Washington, on its hearing on Citizenship Laws.

Aman has been extensively campaigning against arbitrary deprivation of nationality and statelessness in the state of Assam. He was granted a scholarship by Melbourne Law School to attend an intensive course on Statelessness at Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School.

Besides, Aman has also been organizing training programs for lawyers who work before Foreigners Tribunals. He recently co-founded Justice and Liberty Initiative to provide pro bono legal aid to those underprivileged people whose citizenship has been wrongly questioned. In March, Justice and Liberty Initiative petitioned the Supreme Court praying for release of all ‘declared foreigners’ detained in detention centres of Assam.

Subscribe to our Newsletter


Avatar photo
About TNM NewsDesk

-

The News Mill is a Guwahati-based digital media with focus on content from across Northeast India and beyond. We can be reached through [email protected]