I dedicated my receipt of an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from De Montfort University to the people of Balochistan and their struggle for freedom and self-determination.
The award was conferred in recognition of 47 years of human rights campaigning.
At the ceremony I said:
“I dedicate my acceptance of this honorary doctorate to the people of Balochistan who have suffered more than 60 years of annexation, occupation and human rights abuses by Pakistan. They will win their freedom in the end.”
“In accepting this honour, I pay tribute to the many heroic, inspirational activists I have worked with to defend human rights in Uganda, Somaliland, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Balochistan, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Western Sahara, Iraq, Palestine and West Papua.
“I am so lucky to have had the privilege to know and support so many amazing, courageous human rights defenders around the world. I walk in their shadow, humbled by their bravery and sacrifice.”
Urging people to work for equality and social justice in Britain and worldwide, I concluded:
“To quote my fellow sodomite and socialist Oscar Wilde: ‘We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.’”
READ MORE here: http://bit.ly/1b0edQL
