Our Mission

Nishan is a non-profit public policy advocacy and development organization. We are dedicated to "Upholding Rights & Justice" in the society with the crusade against corruption and the abuse of power.  We are primarily focused on cases arising from police apathy and rampant corruption in the Indian bureaucracy and government authorities.

We provide support to victims of injustice and pursue perpetrators to inspire the hapless.  We also undertake field research and policy analysis to investigate corruption and compile reports with recommendation and proposals detailing methods to improve government systems with active participation of organized vigilant public groups.

The Name

‘Nishan’ is a Persian word with multiple meanings, one of these being a flag or standard. Nishan symbolizes the sovereign authority of courage of convictions and values that reside with its crusaders. Through out the ages, when communities have faced extreme crisis, people of good will and courage have rallied together under their respective Nishan (Ensign) to express their solidarity and faith in their cause, and to keep it fluttering high with dignity and defend their communities against  adversities.

Team Nishan

Aridaman Jit Singh, Kurukshetra/Delhi
MA in history, graduate of International Civil-Military Coordination from UN OCHA and associated with NATO's High Readiness Land Forces as trainer on International training exercises. His career spans two decades of field experience with the Government of India's Central police Organizations(NSG/BSF) , where as a senior officer he was involved in anti-militancy and Intelligence Operations. He also remain associated with the training and policy making at the Country Head Quarters. His endeavor of raising voice against inadequacies of existing systems and practices soon brought the realization that malice was too deep rooted and fighting with a system while being part of it imposed severe limitations. It was not possible to reform the mighty police organizations that promote inefficiency very efficiently and have the privilege of assured career progression without accountability. His very close encounters with corrupt high ranking hawks ignited and fueled his endless endeavor to launch a crusade against corruption and abuse of power by mobilizing masses to rise against injustice in the world's largest electoral democracy.

 Dr. Harjinder Kaur ,Kurukshetra/Delhi

Academic by profession, human rights activist by soul and spirit.  Harjinder is a gold medalist of MA & MPhil  from Kurukshetra University and completed Phd from Delhi University. She has taught at  colleges in the state of Haryana and Delhi and has honorably sacrificed her prosperous career in order to offer her full commitment to the Nishan, and our cause. She has worked tirelessly and remains the moving spirit of all the Nishan endeavors and is a passionate believer in mobilizing and empowering the people.

Captain Ramesh Kumar,Delhi
The quest of always touching new heights that epitomises not only the spirit of attempting the impossibles but achieve them , describes the persona of captain. His carrier spans two decades as an armed force officer with government of India who created history by qualifying as a professional pilot in the  elite central police organisation. The organizational hypocrisy that is pervasive in the Indian police forces was taking its toll on his flying skills and inspired him to take the leap and become an international flier. Captain Ramesh is associated with Nishan as a crusader against corruption and injustice.

Captain Satvir Singh,Delhi/Jhajjar

A Veteran of Counter Insurgency Operations, He served with the Indian Army from 1996 to 2004 and is now a full-time Nishan crusader.  Captain Satvir is the driving force of Nishan field operations in relation to mobilising the masses.  He has been at the forefront of the campaign to inspire and organise the masses to rally against Special Economic Zones in the state of Haryana. Credit of establishing mass base of thousands of active volunteers for Team Nishan across the length and breadth of Haryana goes to this young revolutionary patriotic Veteran of Indian Army.

Captain K.M Thapar,Faridabad(Haryana)

An ex-Officer of the Indian Army and manager and advisor in security for a number of organisations.  Captain Thapar has a long history as a social activist.  At the age of 60 years he has the commitment and enthusiasm of a youthful crusader. Captain Thapar is always in the forefront of every campaign involving social justice issues.

Sh. Dharam Pal Sharma,Kaithal/Delhi
A very successful businessman and social activist.  Sh. Dharam is the spirit behind the Power to the People campaign in the state of Haryana.  His zest and zeal to help the poor and marginalized people constantly inspires Nishan staff to carry forward the crusade against corruption.

Josephine Gerrard , Campaign coordinator

Jo graduated from the University of Newcastle, Australia in 2008 with a Bachelor of Development Studies (majoring in Cultures and Citizenship). During her rather extensive time at university she spent five months in Rural Costa Rica where she designed and implemented an English language program for around 40 local kids. In 2009 her passion for helping people and Human Rights brought her to India where she joined team NISHAN as Campaign Coordinator.

  Melissa Gordon,Campaign Coordinator

As Campaign Coordinator she is spearheading the Campaign on Police Reforms from People's Perspective-Public is Police (PRPP-PP). She graduated from the University of Portsmouth in 2008 after completing her LLB in Law and Criminology. She also volunteered for the Citizens Advice Bureau a UK based charity that seeks to inform people of their rights. It is this belief that people should be educated in their rights, and feel empowered to demand that they are adhered to, which has led her to embark on this journey with Nishan.

Manisha Singh, Project Coordinator

Manisha received her LLB with honours from the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne and completed the Bar Vocational Course for England and Wales at Nottingham Law School. She won the prestigious  Times/Herbert Smith Advocacy competetion for which she received a 3000 pound award. In the UK she currently works as a County Court Advocate and is in receipt of an Overseas Placement Award from the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn. She has now committed her advocacy skills to Nishan’s PRPP-PP campaign and she plays a pivotal role by shouldering the expanded responsibility of Media Officer for Team Nishan.

Team Nishan is greatly indebted to the following international volunteers who made out standing contributions on various campaigns and supported Nishan endeavours:

Sarah Champawat DeNicola, Project Officer

Sarah graduated from Occidental College in Los Angeles with a B.A. in Diplomacy and World Affairs and a Minor in Spanish Language and Cultural Studies, and was granted cum laude and “Distinction” in the major. Originally from San Francisco, she studied for one semester in Spain conducting independent research on immigration issues and human rights, and continued on to complete her senior thesis on immigration rights and policy. A firm believer in the power of grassroots political action and driven by her passion for international human rights, Sarah joined Team Nishan and made outstanding contributions in organizing interviews of victims of state violence across the state of Punjab and UP. Sarah is an outstanding achiever blessed with high speed working abilities, always ready to shoulder expanded responsibilities and capable of taking to multi tasks and assuming situational leadership, who can be banked upon.

Cheryl Lynn Obal, Italy

Cheryl Obal, originally from the USA, now lives in Vicenza, Italy. After working as a professional dancer and choreographer for 10 years, Cheryl realized that she wanted to dedicate her life to working in human rights, which led her to pursue an MA in International Peace Operators at the International University Institute of European Studies in Gorizia, Italy. Cheryl has taken a particular interest in Indian human rights, including the injustice arising from the caste system as well as the lack of implementation of human rights legislation. Cheryl possesses infectious enthusiasm with high voltage optimism and knows how to take every one along to achieve the targets.

 Leanne Govindsamy, South Africa

Leanne Govindswamy came from Johannesburg, South Africa, and holds an LLB from the University of Witwatersrand and LLM in International Human Rights Law at the University of Notre Dame and graduated summa cum laude.  She also worked at the Wits Refugee Clinic, providing legal assistance to indigent refugees. Thereafter, she worked as a legal researcher to Justice Madala at the Constitutional Court of South Africa. In her journey to defend human rights she joined  Team Nishan and made outstanding contributions with her extra ordinary organizing abilities by assuming situational leadership and played the pivotal role by taking keen interest in each and every campaign of Team Nishan.

Viera Vika Zaprihacova, Slovakia

Viera Vika Zaprihacova comes from Slovakia and has completed her Masters in International Development Studies from University of East Anglia, UK. She has strong interests in gender issues and a passion for creating the space for women to empower themselves, seeing this as crucial to further women's rights. She  spearheaded the "Unsung heroes" & "Power to People" campaigns.

Ashley Bowe, UK

Ashley recently completed his LLM in International and European Human Rights at the University of Leeds. A strong desire to uphold standards of human rights within an international context brought him to India to study the world's second most populated nation and examine methods in safeguarding these universal rights. In the capacity of Research Coordinator, He laid the foundation of research work on "Police reforms from Peoples's perspective" on levels of police accountability within India.

 Eduardo Landin-Hague, 

Eduardo started his career as a media producer and five years later moved to the UK to pursue a MA in multimedia journalism. His passion for travelling has brought him to different countries and it wasn’t long before he was approached about collaborating for different projects and organisations in the international arena. Eduardo joined our team from Hague to work on our new media and public information project and gave real visible shape and impetus to the  over all work under the most challenging circumstances by enduring every hardship with his greatest virtue of perseverance. The Team Nishan will remain forever indebted to the outstanding contributions of Eduardo

Rebecca Kumi-Canada,

Rebecca is currently a student pursuing a Joint Major of Political Science, Middle Eastern and African History, and French at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada.  Her interests in international development and equitable justice have brought her to Nishan.  Rebecca has contributed to Nishan’s Power to People Campaign and Unsung Hero’s campaign, working to make the voices of marginalised women heard

Cliona Martyn-Ireland, 
Bachelor of Arts majoring in English and Music from National University of Ireland, Maynooth.  As an aspirant for LLM in International Human Rights Law   and a wish to gain practical experience and to work toward the betterment of society led Cliona to join Nishan.  Cliona proved a very passionate  team member who worked tirelessly to further the Nishan mission.

Michael Nowicki-Canada, 

Bachelor of Arts majoring in History from University of Concordia, Canada, and MA in European Studies and International Relations from Jagiellonian University, Poland.  Eager to gain professional field experience in international development and to travel and work in India brought Michael to Nishan. With Nishan he worked on the issue of Police reforms. 

Lauren Gurfein-USA, 

Bachelor of Arts in Nonfiction writing from Brown University, USA, and one year into a Master's of Science in Social Work at Columbia University. Lauren came to Nishan to help further their mission of eradicating injustice in India, as well as to gain experience in international social justice advocacy, specifically with populations of disempowered women.

 Jerram Lawry-White- UK, 

Fresh out of University of Leeds in the UK and experienced in working in the fields of human rights and conflict resolution, Jerram joined the struggle against injustice in India by putting his professional skills to work in a number of projects. Jerram foresaw the potential of bringing up a school for the children of victims of violence and worked to conceive the original plan for the dream project of team Nishan.

Brett Watson- Australia, 

Msc in Political Science and an innate social activist, Brett became one of the most prominent members of Nishan and his work laid foundation of our first website. A highly optimistic campaigner who also played an instrumental role in the launch of the Power to People campaign which he envisaged as the panacea for all the ills of the Indian democracy.

Christine Raine-USA

A postgraduate of Political Science from the University of New York joined the team Nishan and became the pioneer of the Internship programme. A very seasoned, intelligent and articulate professional with extraordinary leadership qualities and infectious enthusiasm. 

Anna Brekken- USA

BA in International Relations and Spanish, from Concordia College Moorhead, MN and candidate for MA of Public Policy with specialization in International Relations at Pepperdine University in California.