Angellica Aribam …a Powerful Voice for North Easterners in Contemporary Politics
Angellica Aribam …a Powerful Voice for North Easterners in Contemporary Politics
Angellica Aribam was born in Imphal west to a Manipuri Brahmin family.
Angellica Aribam (born 22 January 1992) is an Indian political activist working on issues of gender, race, and the democratization of politics. She is the founder of Femme First Foundation, a non-government organisation working to promote women's political leadership in India. Aribam was also a National General Secretary of the National Students' Union of India, the students' wing of the Indian National Congress.Further, Aribam is an inaugural VVEngage Fellow for women political leaders at Vital Voices, an American NGO founded by Hillary Clinton and Madeleine Albright. In 2017, Aribam was named as one of Forbes India's 30 under 30 for her work on policy and politics. She was the first student from the North-eastern region of India to be elected in the Delhi University Students' Union Executive Committee. Angellica Aribam was born in Imphal west, Manipur to a Manipuri Brahmin family. She is the youngest of three siblings, born to Aribam M Sharma and (Late) Thoibi Devi. She moved to New Delhi at age 12 to complete her schooling. Aribam went to school at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Andrews Ganj. She completed her Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry with Honours from Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi in 2012. During her sabbatical from political life in 2017–2018, Aribam was a MOFCOM scholar and completed her Masters' in Public Policy from Peking University. Her Master's degree thesis was focused on the public perception of stringent rape laws with respect to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013. Aribam joined National Students' Union of India (NSUI), the students' wing of the Indian National Congress in July 2012. In September 2012, Aribam was elected in the Campus Law Centre, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi. Subsequently, she contested and won the election for the executive committee of the Delhi University Students' Union. With it, she became the first North-Easterner to be elected in Delhi University Students' Union. In December 2012, she was inducted as a National Secretary in the NSUI by Rahul Gandhi. She was the youngest person to join the national committee. At the AICC session held in Jaipur in 2013, Aribam was the lone speaker from the entire North-east region. In her speech, she focused on the challenges faced by the North-east diaspora across the country. In the run-up to the 16th Lok Sabha elections, Aribam co-anchored the consultations, formulation and drafting processes of the Student Manifesto for the Indian National Congress. In March 2016, Aribam was promoted to National General Secretary of the NSUI. She resigned from her position in July 2017 in a bid to create space for younger blood in the system; having served the organisation for five years. Aribam represented the Indian National Congress on various national and international media platforms. Aribam was also selected as a delegate for the American Council of Young Political Leaders Exchange Program in collaboration with the United States Government's State Department. In January–February 2020, she observed election rallies of two presidential candidates including that of Joe Biden, and was introduced in the Iowa Senate.Also Read: 1958: A milestone year for GauhatiAlso Watch: