Citizens for Inclusive Education Invite you to a talk on Negotiating a Colonial Legacy: Criminal Defamation and the Constitution by Gautam Bhatia

Gautam Bhatia is a practicing lawyer in Delhi, Visiting Faculty at West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata and author of the book Offend, Shock or Disturb: Free Speech under the Indian Constitution, 2016. Date & Time: 17 June, 6pm Venue: Lamakaan The talk is being organized by Citizens for Inclusive Education (CIE) to understand the politics of defamation and its deployment against protest and dissent in the university. Several of you may remember that five students from English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Hyderabad, were convicted for six months in a defamation case brought against them by a faculty member. The Magistrate Court weaved together a problematic matrix of malicious and unruly students requiring discipline, of the University space as being sacred and neutral, and most importantly, that protest against discrimination is defamation. The print media and some of the online media have celebrated the verdict, as a much-needed action against violent students from OBC, Dalit and Tribal backgrounds, who in the name of fighting for social justice are actually disrupting the “normal” university life. Against this verdict of the Magistrate's Court, the students have appealed to the Session's court which will shortly hear the matter. We invite journalists, students, teachers, lawyers, activists and well-wishers to participate in the discussion and voice your concerns to save the right to freedom of expression, democratic values and human rights in higher educational institutions.