Eminent women’s rights activist and author from Odisha Manasi Pradhan will address the prestigious Oxford Union, University of Oxford, in England as ‘Guest Speaker’ on Wednesday, an honour she will share with great icons like Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher, former US Presidents Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter and other notable world leaders who have spoken at the union as ‘Guest Speaker’.
Originally scheduled to speak on June 6, Pradhan’s address was postponed to October 24 due to delay in getting visa. Pradhan arrived in London on October 20 on a six-day England tour during which she is scheduled to meet members of the British royal family and several other senior dignitaries of England, besides addressing the Oxford Union. The speech at the Oxford Union is televised by BBC, CNN, Russia Today and covered by all major international publications.
In 2016, the New York-based Bustle magazine named Pradhan among 20 most-inspiring women activists along with Nobel Prize winners Shirin Ebadi, Rigoberta Menchu, Malala, Betty Friedan, Naomi Klein, Angela Davis and Gloria Steinem.