DOCSLIB.ORG

Background Guide

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Background Guide “The United Nations is designed to make possible lasting freedom and independence for all its members” - Harry S. Truman Catholic University of America Model United Nations Conference 2014 Security Council Background Guide Ryan Sundstrom Katie Sharma CUMUNC 2014 CUMUMC 2014 Dear CUMUNC Delegates, Secretariat Welcome to the UN Security Council. I hope you are all prepared to have an amazing time debating international issues in the hopes of preventing war. Or possibly you all we decide to start a war, that’s the power you will be given by being placed in the Security Council. Now the rest of Kait Fuhr this guide should give you a balanced background of the issue of Iran’s Secretary General Nuclear Program, so I’ll take this time to discuss a little bit about myself. My name is Ryan Sundstrom and I am currently a junior here at Catholic University. I am studying international politics as following a Pre-Law course path, so I am very familiar with International issues faced on a daily basis by the UN. I expect you all too also have at least a general knowledge of the Security Council issues we will be discussing in order to facilitate Jacqueline Vesce productive debates. The Pre-Law track of my major also means I am Director-General especially interested in international law, and resolutions from the UN Security Council play a major role in creating international law. Basically I am giving you a fair warning that I am very excited for these debates on these issues that Katie and I will be overseeing. It also means I share a love for international law that I hope you all also share, so I am open to any questions you may have. This will be my second year in a row chairing the Kaitlyn Degnan Security Council; however last year it was a slightly different Council. The Director of Security Council last year was placed historically in the late 1950s, early Logistics 1960s, so a lot of our debates were over Cold War issues. However I am extremely excited for this year as we will be discussing issues in modern context that the actual UN are contemplating at this time. Now if you have any other questions about me personally, feel free to ask. But for now let me tell you what I expect for our debate sessions. CUMUNC’s overall goal is for delegates to have fun being placed in the Dorle Hellmuth shoes of international lawmakers. That being said, I still expect respect and CUA-IAA Advisor parliamentary matters to be followed. I hope to have a lot of fun with all of you, but that is only possible if we all know when to be funny and when it is time to be serious. But I am overall very easy going and will allow you all to lead the debates in the direction you see fit, as long as we do not get too far off topic. My only request is that you show Katie and I respect as your chairs, and we will return that respect. Other than that, just have fun! From now until CUMUNC, I suggest you all read through this background guide as well as the one prepared by Katie. You may also want to do further research on the issues based on the nations you will be representing. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me at any time or we can always speak in person at CUMUNC. Katie and I are very excited to meet all of you and keep peace throughout the world! Enjoy and see you all soon! Ryan Sundstorm [email protected] CUMUNC 2014 CUMUMC 2014 Dear CUMUNC Delegates, Secretariat My name is Katie Sharma and I will be serving as your Vice Chair of the Security Council for CUMUNC 2014! I am so pleased to welcome you to this committee, and I hope you thoroughly enjoy your experience at CUMUNC and are excited to be a part of this incredible council. I would like Kait Fuhr to start off by reminding you that as a part of Security Council you have the Secretary General opportunity to create and implement solutions to current, pressing global issues. You have the most authority, and your decisions and resolutions weigh heavily amongst the international community. The topics we have prepared for you are complex and compelling, and will push you to think outside of the box when it comes to resolution building. While researching the topics I personally found myself becoming anxious and eager for Jacqueline Vesce CUMUNC, and I hope you feel the same! Director-General On a personal note, I am a sophomore Politics major with a double minor in Arabic and Islamic World Studies. In high school I was vice president of my Model UN club my Junior Year and President my Senior Year. I have travelled to three MUN conferences, one here in D.C. and two in New York City. I served on Security Council twice in high school, and it was most Kaitlyn Degnan definitely my favorite committee. Director of Logistics If you have any questions at all or would just like to say hello, please feel free to email me. I sincerely hope each of you feels comfortable and excited to be on Security Council, and I promise I will do my absolute best to ensure your experience at CUMUNC is the best it can be. I look forward to seeing you all in February, good luck with your research! Dorle Hellmuth Sincerely, CUA-IAA Advisor Katie Sharma [email protected] CUMUNC 2014 Security Council Mission Statement The UN Charter established six main organs of the United Nations, including the Security Council. It gives primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security to the Security Council, which may meet whenever peace is threatened. According to the Charter, the United Nations has four purposes: • to maintain international peace and security; • to develop friendly relations among nations; • to cooperate in solving international problems and in promoting respect for human rights; • and to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations. All members of the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council. While other organs of the United Nations make recommendations to member states, only the Security Council has the power to make decisions that member states are then obligated to implement under the Charter. When a complaint concerning a threat to peace is brought before it, the Council’s first action is usually to recommend that the parties try to reach agreement by peaceful means. The Council may: • set forth principles for such an agreement; • undertake investigation and mediation, in some cases; • dispatch a mission; • appoint special envoys; or • request the Secretary-General to use his good offices to achieve a pacific settlement of the dispute. When a dispute leads to hostilities, the Council’s primary concern is to bring them to an end as soon as possible. In that case, the Council may: • issue ceasefire directives that can help prevent an escalation of the conflict; • dispatch military observers or a peacekeeping force to help reduce tensions, separate opposing forces and establish a calm in which peaceful settlements may be sought. Beyond this, the Council may opt for enforcement measures, including: • economic sanctions, arms embargoes, financial penalties and restrictions, and travel bans; • severance of diplomatic relations; • blockade; • or even collective military action. A chief concern is to focus action on those responsible for the policies or practices condemned by the international community, while minimizing the impact of the measures taken on other parts of the population and economy. CUMUNC 2014 Topic A: Issue of the Iranian Nuclear Program The Security Council is consistently called upon to keep the peace throughout the world and implement the measures necessary to ensure that the peace maintains. Many times this means the Council must step in to either prevent war or implement it where it is deemed necessary. However, the prevention of war is preferable, which is why in the past the Council has taken measures to prevent the continuation of actions that may lead to conflict. This is the case that is faced by the Council upon the current issue with Iran. The Council must find a way to appease both the international world and Iran in concerns to their nuclear program in such a way as to prevent conflict amongst Iran, its neighbors, and their allies. The primary issue here is the fear of Iran developing a nuclear weapon via their current nuclear enrichment program. While Iran itself claims to only be enriching uranium for energy purposes, the majority of the world powers believe they have underlying goals of enriching uranium for a nuclear bomb. The fear is that Iran will go beyond enrichment for levels and enrich their uranium to 90% purity, which would be the subsequent levels necessary for a bomb. The problem was made even more likely when in 2002 the IAEA could not confirm in their investigations of Iran’s nuclear plants that the program was only for peaceful purposes. Iran has since consistently failed to comply with the safe guards of the Non-Nuclear Proliferation Treaty1. Obvious concerns have been raised in a scenario in which Iran gains nuclear weapons capability. Israel feels they are in the most danger in this scenario from an Iranian nuclear strike, as Iran has historically expressed its distaste for Israel existing in the Middle East. But Israel is not the only country that has concerns.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • June Ank 2016
    The Specter of Emergency Continues to Haunt the Country Mahi Pal Singh Forty one years ago this country witnessed people had been detained without trial under the the darkest chapter in the history of indepen- repressive Maintenance of Internal Security Act dent and democratic India when the state of (MISA), several high courts had given relief to emergency was proclaimed on the midnight of the detainees by accepting their right to life and 25th-26th June 1975 by Indira Gandhi, the then personal liberty granted under Article 21 and ac- Prime Minister of the country, only to satisfy cepting their writs for habeas corpus as per pow- her lust for power. The emergency was declared ers granted to them under Article 226 of the In- when Justice Jagmohanlal Sinha of the dian constitution. This issue was at the heart of Allahabad High Court invalidated her election the case of the Additional District Magistrate of to the Lok Sabha in June 1975, upholding Jabalpur v. Shiv Kant Shukla, popularly known charges of electoral fraud, in the case filed by as the Habeas Corpus case, which came up for Raj Narain, her rival candidate. The logical fol- hearing in front of the Supreme Court in Decem- low up action in any democratic country should ber 1975. Given the important nature of the case, have been for the Prime Minister indicted in the a bench comprising the five senior-most judges case to resign. Instead, she chose to impose was convened to hear the case. emergency in the country, suspend fundamen- During the arguments, Justice H.R.
    [Show full text]
  • Afzal Guru's Execution
    Contents ARTICLES - India’s Compass On Terror Is Faulty What Does The Chinese Take Over - Kanwal Sibal 3 Of Gwadar Imply? 46 Stop Appeasing Pakistan - Radhakrishna Rao 6 - Satish Chandra Reforming The Criminal Justice 103 Slandering The Indian Army System 51 10 - PP Shukla - Dr. N Manoharan 107 Hydro Power Projects Race To Tap The ‘Indophobia’ And Its Expressions Potential Of Brahmaputra River 15 - Dr. Anirban Ganguly 62 - Brig (retd) Vinod Anand Pakistan Looks To Increase Its Defence Acquisition: Urgent Need For Defence Footprint In Afghanistan Structural Reforms 21 - Monish Gulati 69 - Brig (retd) Gurmeet Kanwal Political Impasse Over The The Governor , The Constitution And The Caretaker Government In 76 Courts 25 Bangladesh - Dr M N Buch - Neha Mehta Indian Budget Plays With Fiscal Fire 34 - Ananth Nageswaran EVENTS Afzal Guru’s Execution: Propaganda, Politics And Portents 41 Vimarsha: Security Implications Of - Sushant Sareen Contemporary Political 80 Environment In India VIVEK : Issues and Options March – 2013 Issue: II No: III 2 India’s Compass On Terror Is Faulty - Kanwal Sibal fzal Guru’s hanging shows state actors outside any law. The the ineptness with which numbers involved are small and A our political system deals the targets are unsuspecting and with the grave problem of unprepared individuals in the terrorism. The biggest challenge to street, in public transport, hotels our security, and indeed that of or restaurants or peaceful public countries all over the world that spaces. Suicide bombers and car are caught in the cross currents of bombs can cause substantial religious extremism, is terrorism. casualties indiscriminately. Shadowy groups with leaders in Traditional military threats can be hiding orchestrate these attacks.
    [Show full text]
  • Ather Zia University of Northern Colorado College of Humanities and Social Sciences (970) 351-4580 Email: [email protected]
    Ather Zia University of Northern Colorado College of Humanities and Social Sciences (970) 351-4580 Email: [email protected] Education PhD, University of California at Irvine, 2014. Area of Study: Anthropology MA, Cal State University, 2007. Area of Study: Communications MA, University of Kashmir, 1998. Area of Study: Mass Communication & Journalism BSc, University of Kashmir, 1995. Professional Academic Experience Assistant Professor, University of Northern Colorado. (2014 - Present). Teaching Assistant, University of California at Irvine. (2008 - 2014). Visiting Professor, Media Education Research Center, University of Kashmir. (2011 - 2012). Teaching Associate, California State University - Fullerton. (2006 - 2007). Guest Lecturer, California State University - Fullerton. (2004 - 2005). Visiting Professor, School of Education. (2002). Part-time Lecturer, Indira Gandhi National Open University. (1999 - 2001). Part-time Instructor, SSM College of Engineering. (1998 - 2001). Part-time Lecturer, Institute of Management. (2000). Part-time Lecturer, College of Education. (1998 - 2000). Licensures and Certifications National Eligilibility Test, University Grants Commission of India. (November 1999 - Present). RESEARCH, SCHOLARSHIP, AND CREATIVE WORKS Publications Juried Journal Article Report Generated on July 16, 2018 Page 1493 of 1526 Zia, A. (2016). The Spectacle of a Good Half-Widow: Women in Search of their Disappeared Men in the Kashmir Valley. PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review, 39(2), 164–175. Zia, A. (2014). Postcolonial Nation-Making: Warfare, Jihad, Subjectivity, and Compassion in the Region of Kashmir. India Review, 13(3), 300–311. Zia, A. (2014). Victor Turner Prize Winner Ethnographic Poem. Anthropology and Humanism, 39(1), 94–95. Zia, A. (2011). Politics of Absence: Women in Search of the Disappeared in Kashmir.
    [Show full text]
  • Kashmir: January 2019 by Jon Lunn
    BRIEFING PAPER Number 7356, 2 January 2019 Kashmir: January 2019 By Jon Lunn update Contents: 1. 2016: The killing of Burhan Wani triggers renewed violence 2. Developments during 2017 3. Developments during 2018 4. Low-key response from Western governments 5. Impasse without end? www.parliament.uk/commons-library | intranet.parliament.uk/commons-library | [email protected] | @commonslibrary 2 Kashmir: January 2019 update Contents Summary 4 1. 2016: The killing of Burhan Wani triggers renewed violence 6 Protests, strikes and curfews 6 Response of the Indian Government 6 Flaring up of tension between India and Pakistan 7 2. Developments during 2017 8 2017 the deadliest year since 2010 8 Main flashpoints and incidents 8 3. Developments during 2018 10 2018 more violent than 2017 10 Flashpoints and incidents 10 Deepening political crisis 12 4. Responses of Western governments and the UN 13 US response 13 UK response 13 EU response 14 UN response 14 5. Conclusion: impasse without end? 15 3 Commons Library Briefing, 2 January 2019 Cover page image copyright: Indian Army Act on Kashmiris by Usama302. Wikimedia Commons Licensed by CC BY 4.0 / image cropped. 4 Kashmir: January 2019 update Summary This briefing covers events in Indian-administered Kashmir since July 2016, which have been characterised by a dramatic upsurge in protest and violence on the ground – what some have called the “worst crisis in a generation”. On 8 July 2016, Burhan Wani, a 22-year-old leader of the armed group Hizbul Mujahedin, was killed by the Indian security forces. Following Wani’s death, the Kashmir Valley saw its biggest outbreak of protest and violence since 2010.
    [Show full text]
  • 19 Reign of Terror: the Indian State and Militancy in Jammu & Kashmir
    Journal of Strategic Affairs Reign of Terror: The Indian State and Militancy in Jammu & Kashmir Amina Afzal “That the government is considering charging me with sedition me [sic] has to do with its panic about many voices, even in India, being raised against what is happening in Kashmir. This is a new development, and one that must be worrisome for the government.”1 ~Arundhati Roy Introduction Burhan Wani’s death in July 2016 by Indian government forces, sparked deadly violence in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) as thousands of people attended Wani’s funeral despite restrictions. The ensuing violence can be attributed to the policies being pursued by the Indian government over the years and its failure to integrate the Kashmiri Muslim population. The year 2015 witnessed a re-emergence of militant activities in IOK. In a July 2015 interview, a top Indian army commander had expressed his concern about the recruitment of educated Kashmiri youth into terrorist organisations. Lieutenant General D S Hooda, General Officer Commanding In Chief, Northern Command warned both the center and state governments to take heed of the fact that “alienation and lack of opportunities” was driving local Kashmiri youth towards 19 Journal of Strategic Affairs militancy. According to him, “Frankly, it is something that we need to introspect. For us, government here and national government, the parents and society, as to what are the reasons that the youth are going into this direction and is there some way to stop this.”2 Although the roots of the Kashmir problem can be traced back to the 1947 partition between India and Pakistan, and India taking the issue to the UN Security Council under Chapter VI; it has since evolved into a multi- faceted issue with its root being the demand for self determination.
    [Show full text]
  • Afzal Guru's Case
    Afzal Guru's Case The UPA government does not appear to have any interest in implementing the death sentence given to Mohammad Afzal Guru, the main accused involved in the conspiracy behind the attack on the Parliament House on 13th. December, 2001. Afzal has been marking his time in Tihar jail since September, 2005, when the petitions seeking review of the judgement upholding the death sentence on Afzal Guru were dismissed by the Supreme Court. On Dec 13, 2001, five gunmen who tried to storm the heavily guarded parliament complex were shot dead by the security personnel. Seven members of the security force were also killed in the said encounter. The attack on the Parliament House was jointly conducted by the Laskhar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), two Kashmiri militant groups operating from Pakistan. Just before the scheduled execution of Afzal Guru on October 20, 2006, Afzal’s family had filed a clemency plea with the President who referred it to home ministry which in turn sent it to the Delhi government for its views, as per the procedure. Since then the matter is pending, with the Union government showing no urgency or interest in expediting the matter. The death sentence awarded to Afzal Guru had triggered wide-spread protests in Kashmir. J&K politicians like Omar Abdullah of National Conference, Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Congress and Mehbooba Mufti of the People's Democratic Party had pleaded against hanging Afzal Guru..Former Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil had said on one occasion that hanging Afzal would prejudice India’s attempt to bring back Sarabjit Singh, an Indian on the death row in Pakistan.
    [Show full text]
  • What Makes Kashmiri Youth to Join Militancy? Tahir-Ul Gani Mir* Department of Forensic Science, Lovely Professional University, India
    inolo OPEN ACCESS Freely available online rim gy C : d O n p a e y n g A o c l c o i e Sociology and Criminology- Open Access c s o s S ISSN: 2375-4435 Research Article From Scholars to Teenagers-What Makes Kashmiri Youth to Join Militancy? Tahir-ul Gani Mir* Department of Forensic Science, Lovely Professional University, India ABSTRACT Since the partition in 1947, the Jammu and Kashmir remained disputed between India and Pakistan. The Indian administered Kashmir always suffered violence, protests, curfew, killings etc. However in Pakistan occupied Kashmir there has been never such acts. Various anti-Indian militant organizations came into being since Kashmir was divided between the two countries. Both countries wanted to take over their rule all over Jammu and Kashmir. For this purpose, the two countries have fought two wars since partition which ended with the establishment of Line of control (LOC). After these events, various separatist parties came into being that demanded separation of J&K from India. Various Pakistan based militant outfits came into existence that allowed Kashmiri uneducated and unemployed youth to get training and fight against India. But all this changed after 2016 when a new version of militancy came into existence. Well qualified and educated youth started joining militancy. These militants could have a better life but they preferred to pick up Guns against India. Burhan Wani HM commander, who was killed in 2016 was considered the hero of Kashmir. Similarly, Zakir Musa who was killed in 2019 was a role model for the people of Kashmir.
    [Show full text]
  • INDIA MUST DEVELOP a STRATEGY for COUNTERING PAK Maj Gen Harsha Kakar(Retd)
    INDIA MUST DEVELOP A STRATEGY FOR COUNTERING PAK Maj Gen Harsha Kakar(Retd) Introduction The strike by militants of JeM on the army’s Sanjuwan camp in Jammu over the weekend was the latest in Pak supported strikes on Indian soil. While terror strikes in Kashmir have been routine, launching one in Jammu is a change in trend. A few recent incidents need to be linked together for comprehending the complete picture. The LoC has off latebeen active, initially it was Kashmir, while presently the focus appears to shift South of the Pir Panjal, with Pak even resorting to the use of anti-tank TOW missiles against Indian defensive positions. In a recent incident an officer and three soldiers were killed and a few injured on subsequent occasions.There are reports that Pak has increased the deployment of its Border Action Team (BAT) Mujahid battalions in the region. Indian retaliation has remained strong causing greater casualties to Pak. While India reports every casualty, Pak avoids, fearful that its figures would impact the morale of its soldiers and remove the invincible status of its army in the public eye. Its refusal to even share the same with the national leadership is indicative of this fact. In many cases it has refused to acknowledge Indian retaliation, other than lodging protests for targeting civilians. It is in this increased scenario of tensions that the attack on Sanjuwan was launched. Ironically it happened on the heels of the fifth anniversary of the hanging of Afzal Guru, the mastermind of the Parliament attacks, when security forces were on high alert.
    [Show full text]
  • Jihadist Violence: the Indian Threat
    JIHADIST VIOLENCE: THE INDIAN THREAT By Stephen Tankel Jihadist Violence: The Indian Threat 1 Available from : Asia Program Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars One Woodrow Wilson Plaza 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20004-3027 www.wilsoncenter.org/program/asia-program ISBN: 978-1-938027-34-5 THE WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS, established by Congress in 1968 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a living national memorial to President Wilson. The Center’s mission is to commemorate the ideals and concerns of Woodrow Wilson by providing a link between the worlds of ideas and policy, while fostering research, study, discussion, and collaboration among a broad spectrum of individuals concerned with policy and scholarship in national and interna- tional affairs. Supported by public and private funds, the Center is a nonpartisan insti- tution engaged in the study of national and world affairs. It establishes and maintains a neutral forum for free, open, and informed dialogue. Conclusions or opinions expressed in Center publications and programs are those of the authors and speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center staff, fellows, trustees, advisory groups, or any individuals or organizations that provide financial support to the Center. The Center is the publisher of The Wilson Quarterly and home of Woodrow Wilson Center Press, dialogue radio and television. For more information about the Center’s activities and publications, please visit us on the web at www.wilsoncenter.org. BOARD OF TRUSTEES Thomas R. Nides, Chairman of the Board Sander R. Gerber, Vice Chairman Jane Harman, Director, President and CEO Public members: James H.
    [Show full text]
  • Indian False Flag Operations
    Center for Global & Strategic Studies Islamabad INDIAN FALSE FLAG OPERATIONS By Mr. Tauqir – Member Advisory Board CGSS Terminology and Genealogy The term false flag has been used symbolically and it denotes the purposeful misrepresentation of an actor’s objectives or associations. The lineage of this term is drawn from maritime affairs where ships raise a false flag to disguise themselves and hide their original identity and intent. In this milieu, the false flag was usually used by pirates to conceal themselves as civilian or merchant ships and to prevent their targets from escaping away or to stall them while preparing for a battle. In other cases, false flags of ships were raised to blame the attack on someone else. A false flag operation can be defined as follows: “A covert operation designed to deceive; the deception creates the appearance of a particular party, group, or nation being responsible for some activity, disguising the actual source of responsibility.” These operations are purposefully carried out to deceive public about the culprits and perpetrators. This phenomenon has become a normal practice in recent years as rulers often opt for this approach to justify their actions. It is also used for fabrication and fraudulently accuse or allege in order to rationalize the aggression. Similarly, it is a tool of coercion which is often used to provoke or justify a war against adversaries. In addition, false flag operations could be a single event or a series of deceptive incidents materializing a long-term strategy. A primary modern case of such operations was accusation on Iraqi President Saddam Hussain for possessing weapons of mass-destruction ‘WMD’, which were not found after NATO forces, waged a war on Iraq.
    [Show full text]
  • Kashmir in Crisis – Before and After the Killing of Burhan Wani
    Kashmir in crisis – before and after the killing of Burhan Wani blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2016/08/09/kashmir-in-crisis-before-and-after-the-killing-of-burhan-wani/ 2016-8-9 The killing of a senior militant commander in Kashmir a month ago sparked a series of protests across the Valley. A heavy-handed response from security forces has left scores of civilians dead, thousands injured, including hundreds at risk of blindness owing to the widespread use of pellet guns. Mark Mistry, who visited the disputed territory in May, examines the reasons behind the reactions of the people as the new Chief Minister’s reputation lies in tatters. “The Kashmiri will not accept defeat in a hurry.” – AS Dulat, former chief of India’s external intelligence agency, the Research & Analysis Wing The façade of ‘normalcy’ Hizbul Mujahideen’s Burhan Wani was an instantly recognisable face to millions of Kashmiris, resulting from his adept use of social media while alive. In death too his name will live on as the spark that fuelled the Valley’s latest bout of blood-letting. More than 50 lie dead, and thousands (members of the security forces included) have been injured in confrontations between protestors, police and the alphabet soup of Indian paramilitary and armed forces that inhabit the Vale of Kashmir in their hundreds of thousands. Before Burhan’s death, the portents weren’t good. I visited during the Durbar move in May, which marks the shift of the seat of state government from Jammu to Srinagar, the summer capital. Preparations included the dredging of Dal Lake, where weeds excavated from the waterbody were subsequently dumped on The Boulevard, the road that rings the lake’s perimeter.
    [Show full text]
  • Why the JNU Ordeal Is About More Than Just Intolerance
    Why the JNU ordeal is about more than just intolerance blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2016/02/24/why-the-jnu-ordeal-is-about-more-than-just-intolerance/ 2016-2-24 More than ten days after the arrest of the JNU Student Union President on charges of sedition, the conflict between student protestors and the government shows little sign of abating. Saanya Gulati writes that the incident raises issues that are deeper and far more disturbing than just a debate about the legal limits on free speech. Much of India’s media coverage for the last few weeks has been centred on the activity in Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), starting with the arrest of Student Union President, Kanhaiya Kumar on 12 February. Kumar’s arrest was made under the pretext of anti-national sloganeering that erupted during the public demonstration held on the anniversary of Afzal Guru’s execution. Afzal Guru, accused of the attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001, was hanged in 2013. Several activists have disputed the judicial proceedings that led to the Supreme Court’s decision. Arundhati Roy, a prominent Indian author termed it a stain on India’s democracy. Kumar’s arrest has re-ignited the debate on freedom of speech and the validity of a colonial piece of legislation under which he was booked: the sedition law. Once used by the British Raj to keep seditious activity against the colonial state in check, even the UK repealed this law in 2009, on the grounds that it has chilling effects on free speech.
    [Show full text]