Global voices at Manorama Hortus: Raji Sourani, Rollo Romig and Maithree Wickremesinghe key speakers

Kochi: Eminent human rights activist Raji Sourani from Gaza, Rollo Romig, the American journalist who earned a place on the Pulitzer Prize shortlist for his work on the murder of Gauri Lankesh, and Maithree Wickremesinghe, a leading gender equality expert from Sri Lanka, will be among the distinguished speakers at the Manorama Hortus Festival, to be held at Subhash Park in Kochi, from November 27 to 30.

Raji Sourani, the founder of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, is an acclaimed legal expert who has dedicated his life to the pursuit of justice despite facing multiple imprisonments. His concept of universal jurisdiction, which seeks to bring war criminals to justice at the international level, played a crucial role in the 2021 Palestine verdict of the International Criminal Court.

Rollo Romig, who has written extensively on India’s social issues, gained global attention for his book 'I Am on the Hit List', which explored the life and assassination of journalist Gauri Lankesh and reflected on contemporary India. The book went on to make it to the Pulitzer Prize finalists’ list.

Dr Maithree Wickramasinghe, Head of the Department of English at the University of Kelaniya and Founding Director of the Centre for Gender Studies, is the author of several influential works, most notably 'From Theory to Action' and 'An Introduction to Gender Mainstreaming'.