Bio: Born and brought up a stone’s throw away from Orwell’s birthplace in Champaran, Bihar, Akash claims to have inherited his skepticism of authority and concern for the poor but not his democratic socialism (whatever that means). He is currently a fourth-year Integrated Masters student at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras majoring in Development Studies. Akash was introduced to libertarianism when he was gifted a copy of Ayn Rand’s Anthem by his teacher while on a high school exchange in the United States.

Akash’s belief in classical liberalism is firmly rooted in natural rights and Indic multiculturalism; although he considers himself to be a consequentialist libertarian in the mold of Milton Friedman. He finds his views close to that of the Bleeding Heart Libertarians, also known as Arizona School Liberals (coincidentally the state where he spent a year of high school and got his first lessons of the liberty movement). He is deeply passionate about contextualizing the liberty movement to suit the realities of South Asia and has a career interest in entrepreneurship and public policy. Akash likes to read in English as well as in Hindi and loves to hang out with people who treat him in exchange for his cribbing and chatter, mostly things political.

Favourite Libertarian Figures: Milton Friedman, James Buchanan, Elinor Ostrom, C Rajagopalachari, Sharad Anantrao Joshi, Chris Freiman, Justin Amash

On liberty and SFL: As Robin Williams tells his student in Dead Poets Society, “No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.” SFL has given me a family, individuals who are as crazy as I am, individuals who believe that together our ideas can change the world and make it a better and freer place to live in.

Bio: Bidhya Rimal completed her Bachelors in Computer Science and Information technology from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. She got in touch with the ideas of Liberty through programs conducted by SFL in Nepal. Thereafter she joined SFL Local Coordinator program.

As a libertarian with Computer Science background, her peak interest lies in learning about ways to conduct decentralized innovation through competitive markets. That is to say, technology should reach every nook and cranny in order to better the lives of people. She believes that the effective use of data and computational methods are critical in making adaptive and personalized policies that improve the lives of everyone.

She is also interested in art, music, psychology, social work and travelling.

Favourite Libertarian Figures: Alan Watts, Ayn Rand

On liberty and SFL: SFL has made such a huge impact on me than any other organizations I have been a part of. It has helped me grow and better understand the importance of liberty in our lives.

Bio: Harshit is a final year law student and is always enthusiastic in exploring new ideas and very energetic . He always had his heart in liberty and SFL gave him a platform to channelize his ideology. He believes one should work towards making oneself better each day and there’s always a learning in each failure. He aims towards spreading happiness and working for humanity. He is fond of eating, cooking, and cracking random jokes. He believes that no matter what happens there’s always a silver lining and one should never lose that beautiful smile.

Favourite Libertarian Figures: Milton Friedman

On liberty and SFL: Liberty is a way of life which everyone should learn about and thus SFL becomes a platform for people around the world to connect and spread the ideology making world a liberal place. SFL has brought a change in me and I have certainly become more liberal and educated on liberty.

Bio: Israr Hasan is someone who is constantly willing to learn and challenge the views of others, including himself. For him, nothing is sacred and everything should be debated and analysed firmly. However, everything needs to be done with civility and panache. Israr dabbles with wordplay in his free time making it his favourite part-time job. Books, quizzes and overall thirst for knowledge is what composes this carbon-based compound. He has been a member of Students for Liberty since 2018 coming across it in 2017 when volunteering for a colloquium in his university. Currently studying Economics and Anthropology in his last year, Israr aims to keep charging the case for liberty forward with greater gusto and passion. For him, freedom is not one can do but what one ought to do.

Favourite Libertarian Figures: Laozi, Frederick Hayek

On liberty and SFL: “SFL is a brilliant platform which strives on the freedom of ideas, not dogma and helps to understand the various conditions of the world with a more introspective eye and reflective mind.”

Bio: Karan recently graduated from University of Delhi with a major in Economics and a minor in Commerce and enjoyed a rigorous university-level debating career, particularly in the British parliamentary format for many years.

Karan made full use of his college life by reading extensively on a wide range of subjects and that is when he realized his comprehensive passion for libertarianism.

He is a deontologist who subscribes to the Austrian school of economics and has frequent flirtations with Minarchism as well.

He is a football fanatic, an enthusiastic traveler, a playlists overlord and an extrovert who thoroughly enjoys conversations ranging from Fermi paradox to his contempt for the concept of the nation-state.

Favourite Libertarian Figures: David Friedman, Ayn Rand, Murray Rothbard, John Mackey, Elinor Ostrom, Jeffrey Tucker.

On liberty and SFL: Karan credits SFL for facilitating a sense of belongingness to a brilliant community and for empowering students through a meticulous leadership transition setup to make sure that sound grounding does have a positive impact on society.

Bio: Anas is a law student from Amity Law School, Mumbai and is currently in the final year pursuing B.A.,LL.B ( Hons.).

Anas believes that the philosophy of law and jurisprudence is still devoid of liberty. He works with a conviction to change this narrative. He embraced liberty as a principle in life after ‘donning the Communist cap for as long as Che Guevera himself wouldn’t.’ He can rightly be called a learner who believes that expertise in any field is merely a self-imposed stagnancy. He has a career interest in Academia.

For Anas, “Liberty has never been a question of definition. To define something such as liberty would mean to confine it to a grossly limited understanding of black and white. He believes that liberty can only be described as the practice of individual freedom without violating the established liberty of another”.

Apart from reading and learning about Liberty, Orientalism, Theology, International law and Allied Studies, he is known to be a clumsy creature at times. He loves reading literature in Urdu, Persian and English alike and, believes that tea and laal maas are his intoxicants.

Favourite Libertarian Figures: Frédéric Bastiat, Mustafa Akyol, Adam Bates

On liberty and SFL: SFL has been my trigger for transitioning every day to a better self. The opportunities, the growth and the friendships that I have come across through SFL continue to shape the person I am. Because of SFL, I have decided to pursue a career path that helps the cause of liberty.

Bio: Naveen Kumar LR is a 3rd-year law student at the National University of Advanced Legal Studies in Kochi, India. Being keenly passionate in most things he does (ahem!), he's a connoisseur of linguistics and can fluently speak up to 6 languages.

Apart from spending time in class staring at the stock market, the University has developed in him a very keen sense of respect towards the rule of law and upliftment of the society through economic reforms.

Favourite Libertarian Figures: Friedrich August von Hayek, Murray Rothbard.

On liberty and SFL: His introduction to SFL caused a certain intellectual renaissance which was overwhelming and satisfying. The core objectives of SFL are something very close to his heart and he hopes to see it ingrained in the society soon.

Bio: Sarwagya is a graduate freelancer currently associated as a Research and Advocacy Officer with Bikalpa an Alternative, a public policy think tank based in Biratnagar, Nepal since 2015. He has been advocating for economic and social freedom through research and film making in eastern Nepal. He is also a public policy enthusiast.

Favourite Libertarian Figures: F.A. Hayek, Milton Friedman

On liberty and SFL: It is fascinating to meet people with myriad sets of belief, yet all open to other views, and finding common ground at the premise of freedom. That is how the world at SFL is like.

Bio: A 4th year Law student, Shayala is still trying to figure out the reins in her hands. Her fields of interests range from education, child rights and criminal psychology to the rights of the conscious, artificial intelligence and philosophies surrounding existentialism. Her reserved nature in addition to her keen and observant eye (or so she says), causes her to think (with fault) that she’s quite the Sherlock Holmes. In her leisure time, she loves to read, paint or sketch, watch an insane amount of video essays and self analyze. Her ideas of liberty are carved out through her love for the independence of self, thought, and ideals. To her, liberty is the canvas of limitless imagination and thus, she tries to keep an open mind on all forms of art.

Favourite Libertarian Figures: John Locke, Robert Nozick

On liberty and SFL: SFL provided me the words I needed to describe what I already thought and helped me build depth on my somewhat naive thoughts of freedom. It provided a perspective similar to mine, yet much refined and more practical.

Bio: Sougandhi is currently pursuing a Master's in Development from Azim Premji University Bengaluru. She is a budding Development Practitioner who works to enhance the participation and decision making of the vulnerable sections of the society to access their rights. She is passionate about understanding the ground realities and bridging the gap between policy and action. Her research work revolves around various issues dealing with building sustainable cities, property rights, forest rights and understanding land use planning and efficient spatial distribution. In realising current challenges in sustainability, she aims to strike balance between the rejuvenation of natural resources and livelihood opportunities by building alternative development pathways driven by entrepreneurship.

At the age of seventeen, when she started studying politics and economics, she was exposed to several political loopholes which made her think about other alternatives. In 2016 when she attended SFL Regional Conference in Hyderabad, she was introduced to ideas on liberty where she learnt that politics is not of force, but of persuasion of live and let live, of rejecting both subjugation and domination.

Favourite Libertarian Figures: John Locke, Robert Nozick, Elinor Ostrom, Ayn Rand, Frederic Bastiat and Milton Friedman.

On liberty and SFL: What I don’t know outweighs what I do, so as knowledge prevails like an ocean and for better development of societies one need to understand, study and practise. SFL has been a great platform to deepen my knowledge about Public Policy, Business Development, Entrepreneurial Vision etc furthering my passion for liberty. SFL also provided me with good networking opportunities and helped me to meet like-minded people who share common ideas on liberty. .

Bio: Subhomay holds a Bachelor’s degree in Geology from Hansraj College, Delhi University and an interdisciplinary Master’s degree in Globalisation and Labour from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. He currently works as the Health and Nutrition Consultant to the District Administration of Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, India. A liberterain and a student at heart, Subhomay wants to explore the linkages between psycho-economic incentives and human behaviour. In his free time, he loves cycling and trekking.

Favourite Libertarian Figures: Frederic Bastiat

On liberty and SFL: SFL has taught me that it is possible to respect people, without being patronizing and that it is also possible to follow one’s self-interest without treading on anyone.

Bio: Usman is a Marcom Technologist and he hacks growth for businesses with a mix of marketing, communication, and user experience (UX) strategies. By profession, he is a Digital Marketing consultant. He provides consulting for Digital Marketing to his client in Pakistan and internationally. He’s also a certified trainer and speaker. He runs his digital media agency, Marcom Works and an NGO, Open Humanitarians. Due to his passion for helping others, Usman has launched DigitalAcademy.pk, where he aims to teach the world business and leadership skills for the digital age.

Usman is also a libertarian at heart, which he realized a few years ago. Liberty is his his new found love and he is trying to converge his digital media marketing skills with the libertarian principles to not only educate, train and mentor new leaders, but also play his role in uplifting the society at large. He believes that Liberty is everyone’s right and a lot of work needs to be done to ensure that the people understand the value of liberty and that they become a catalyst for the change in the communities they live in.

Usman is a strong believer in humanity and believes that humanitarian values should be respected at any cost. He encourages everyone to open up for the greater good, resolve the conflicts and pave the way for future generations with dialogue, peace and harmony. He believes that this can only be achieved if we start respecting the individuality and freedom.

Usman has been with SFL for over 2 years now. He keeps on learning more about liberty, freedom, human rights, economics and other issues related to the businesses and entrepreneurship. SFL has been a great platform where for Usman where he engages manages a team of LCs in his regions and participates in the activities for the promotion of peace, harmony and liberty.

Favourite Libertarian Figures: Frédéric Bastiat, Mustafa Akyol, Ali Salman