Condolence Message for Mathew Philips
By PUCL-Karnataka
PUCL is deeply saddened at the passing away of Matthews Philip who was a key presence in the human rights struggle in Karnataka on 20th December 2023. He played a significant role as the General Secretary of the PUCL- K from 1993-96. These were indeed the founding moments of the PUCL-K, and the journey of PUCL-K over the years owes a substantial amount to his early vision, passion and commitment.
He then went on to found SICHREM which played a key role in human rights struggles in Karnataka. SICHREM was indeed a well-known name for human rights in the Karnataka context whose work ranged from human rights education to monitoring of human rights violation to working to eradicate child labour. Matthews was particularly involved in the struggle for justice for the ordinary people who were victims of atrocities by the Special Task Force set up to nab Veerapan. He rendered yeomen service in this regard.
Matthews leaves behind a rich legacy of work, not least the numerous people he has mentored in the field of human rights.
We stand united in grief with his family and friends at this difficult time.
The best tribute we can pay to him is to re-dedicate ourselves to the cause of human rights to which he was so passionately committed.