Noted women's rights activist Sonal Shukla dead

Noted womens rights activist Sonal Shukla died after cardiac arrest in Mumbai on Thursday, a colleague said.Shukla 80 was the founder and managing trustee of the Vacha Charitable Trust and worked with adolescent girls and women over the last four decades. She was the co-founder of the group Forum Against Rape, now known as the Forum Against Oppression of Women.Vacha started in 1987 as a library and womens resource centre.

Noted women’s rights activist Sonal Shukla died after cardiac arrest in Mumbai on Thursday, a colleague said.

Shukla (80) was the founder and managing trustee of the Vacha Charitable Trust and worked with adolescent girls and women over the last four decades. She was the co-founder of the group Forum Against Rape, now known as the Forum Against Oppression of Women.

Vacha started in 1987 as a library and women’s resource centre. It was the first only women’s book library with a collection of over 3,000 books. In 1991, it produced two music albums and two documentaries on women in the Independence movement.

Shukla, who trained in Mahatma Gandhi’s educational methods, had turned her home into a support centre for battered women for two years. She gave space to poor girls to escape from family and community strangleholds through a programme of life skills and community work.

Lovingly known as Sonalben by thousands of adolescent girls and women across India, she tirelessly devoted herself to women’s issues.

“She was an unusual mix of activism and scholarship, who wrote both in Gujarati and English not only on women’s rights issues but also on cultural issues such as music and theatre,” senior journalist Sheela Bhatt said.

Hailing from a family of musicians and theatre actors, Shukla gave ‘vacha’ (voice) to the poor and oppressed adolescent girls through her non-profit organisation.

“She, along with her team, dedicated herself to sensitising boys to ensure an effective support system for girls in their families and communities,'' said Bhatt, a former student of Shukla.

Earlier this year, Shukla was recognised as Feminist Icon in India by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, a pro-democracy and social justice non-profit institution based in Germany.

“Through its activities to facilitate girls in being active participants in their empowerment, research and training programmes, a children’s centre, and other activities, Vacha will always keep her memories alive,” Bhatt said.

Shukla was an educationalist, feminist, leader of many movements and profound thinker on socio-political issues, she said.