Authoritarian Playbooks: Lessons from the New India (A Study Group with Nitika Khaitan)

​​Event Description: As India’s elections approach, there is renewed focus on the country’s swift turn towards authoritarianism in the last decade. The study group examines this through the watershed moment of 2019-2020, beginning with large nationwide protests against the government in 2019 and ending with anti-Muslim violence in the nation’s capital in 2020. How does the “world’s largest democracy” respond to dissent? How do authoritarian regimes use the law to implement repression? Can the same law offer possibilities for resistance?

Drawing on personal experiences of crisis lawyering in 2019-2020, the study group explores how the law silences protest and criminalizes minority lives, and offers space to reflect on paths forward.

This study group is open to HUID holders only and registration is required.
Session 1: Policing Dissent |  March 27, 2024, 2:00 - 3:15 pm ET (Location: Belfer B-L-4 Conference Room)
Session 2: A Riot and a Conspiracy |  April 10, 2024, 2:00 - 3:15 pm ET (Location: Belfer B-L-4 Conference Room)