Bilal Gulam Rasul Kagzi
Bilal Gulam Rasul Kagzi is a practicing lawyer at Surat district court in Gujarat and the Sessions court. Since 2007, he has been living and working in Adivasi areas representing victims of police atrocities and custodial torture, and works extensively on cases of malpractice and corruption.
Bilal Kagzi also represents victims at the Gujarat State Human Rights Commission and Police Compliant Authority. The defender has been working for the implementation of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act) 1989 and is associated with adivasi rights organisations as a legal advisor.
Human rights defenders in India face a diverse range of attacks and harassment from state and non-state actors alike, including killing, physical assault, arbitrary detention, threats and judicial harassment. Police officials are often the perpetrators of violence against HRDs, which is usually carried out with impunity.
