CSDS Seminar AFSPA 20061218

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Democracy, Military and Extraordinary Law
A Discussion on Armed Forces Special Powers Act
by Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS)

By: CSDS *

Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Intercultural Resources and the Othermedia
Cordially invite you to

Democracy, Military and Extraordinary Law
A Discussion on Armed Forces Special Powers Act
on
18th (Monday) December 2006
at
Conference Hall, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS)
29 Rajpur Road, Delhi - 110054

The panelists are
Prof. Kamal Mitra Chenoy (JNU),
Dr. Ujjwal Kumar Singh (DU),
Rajeev Dhavan (Advocate, Supreme Court),
Rahul Bedi (Jane's Defence Weekly), and
Arundhati Roy (Writer/Activist) (tbc).

And

Dr Aditya Nigam (CSDS) and Dr Nandini Sunder (DSE, DU) shall be the discussants.

Prof. Peter de Souza, Senior Fellow, CSDS, shall Chair the Session

We also request you to join us for the dinner after the discussion.

RSVP
A. Bimol Akoijam, CSDS
Smitu Kothari, Intercultural Resources.
Ravi Hemadri, The Othermedia

PROGRAMME

14.30-14.35:	Welcome Address Ravi Hemadri (The Othermedia)
14.35-15.00:	"Untitled", a film by Kavita Joshi
15.00-15.10	Introduction Smitu Kothari (Intercultural Resources)
15.10- 16.30:	Panel Discussion
	Ujjwal Kumar Singh (DU) Rajeev Dhavan (Advocate, Supreme Court) Arundhati Roy (Writer/Activist) (tbc) Rahul Bedi (Jane's Defence Weekly) Kamal Mitra Chenoy (JNU)
16-30-17.00:	Intervention by Discussants
	Aditya Nigam (CSDS) Nandini Sunder (Department of Sociology, DSE, DU)
17.00-18.00	Open Discussion
18.00- 18.10	Concluding Remark by the Chair Prof. Peter de Souza (CSDS)
18.10-18.15	Vote of Thanks A. Bimol Akoijam (CSDS)
19.00:	Dinner

Notes on the Seminar:

Most democracies have 'extraordinary laws' that are enacted to deal with "contingencies".

As instruments of the state, these laws seek to restrict, suspend and deny, ostensibly as temporary measures, the democratic rights and civil liberties of individual citizens.

These laws are against the spirit and principles of democracy insofar as the idea of individual's dignity and liberty is central to the ideals and practices of democracy.

But the undemocratic spirit of these laws is sought to be justified by claiming that these laws are "temporary measures" to deal with certain contingency or "extraordinary" situations. However, these laws often tend to traverse through a trajectory that makes them permanent rather than temporary.

The controversial Armed Forces Special Powers (Assam and Manipur) Act 1958 (AFSPA) is a case in point. Started as an executive order (Presidential Ordinance), the AFSPA has been a part of the statute for the last forty-eight years.

This transformation, from the "temporary" to "permanent", raises question on the place of "extraordinary law" in a democratic polity. Moreover, as an "extraordinary law" or "Special Law" that normalizes the deployment of the military in the internal or domestic affair of the state, it raises legal and political questions that have a critical bearing on the principles and practices of a democracy.

It is critical to acknowledge, however, that this is not an issue that concerns one region in the country but our entire polity.

Indeed, far from being a region specific exception, the "state of exception" implicated in such "special laws" can, if not already has, become the "paradigm of government".

In order to reflect on these questions, the present discussion is being organized.

This announcement was provided by Dhiren Sadokpam (on behalf of CSDS) to e-pao.net . He can be contacted at [email protected] . This was webcasted on December 16, 2006.

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