Difficult Dialogues returns for fifth edition

After previously addressing issues like global finance and civil society, health, gender, and education, this year, the focus will be on the state of law

NT BUZZ

The fifth edition of Difficult Dialogues, the annual conference tackling vital issues in South Asia, will see leading experts, policy makers, politicians, lawyers, judges, academics, and personalities gather in Goa from February 14 to 16, 2020, at the International Centre Goa in Dona Paula.

The conference was founded by philanthropist Surina Narula with the intent to bring together leaders from across the spectrum of international society to meet and find equitable solutions to South Asia’s most pressing priorities. “My experience working with NGOs spanning 20 years has given me a deep understanding of the pressing need to work on policy change. ‘Difficult Dialogues’ is an endeavour to provide a common platform to bridge this gap between policy makers and civil society involved with implementation,” she says. “Unless the last mile implementers are included in the conversation, policies will only reflect what mega rich businesses want and democracy will be diluted.”

After addressing issues like global finance and civil society in 2016, health in 2017, gender in 2018, and education in 2019, this year, the focus will be on the state of law. “This year the task is to explore the state of the law in the country as the judiciary and the legal framework is an important part of a diverse nation like India for providing justice, equality, and prosperity to all its citizens,” says Narula. The forum this year will be held in partnership with the University of Oxford (UK), the Bar Association of India, Centre for Study of Law and Governance at Jawaharlal Nehru University, OP Jindal Global University, PLANIndia, PHIA, besides key partners in Goa – the International Centre Goa, Goa University, and VM Salgaocar
College of Law.

The speakers that have been invited include additional solicitor general of India and politician, Pinky Anand; vice chancellor, OP Jindal Global University, Raj Kumar; director, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies at Oxford University, Linda Mulcahy; researcher and human rights activist Vrinda Grover; retired judge of the Supreme Court of India and former member of the National Human Rights Commission, Justice Sujata Manohar; senior advocate at the Supreme Court of India working primarily on civil litigation across sectors, Shyam Divan; former circuit court judge and senior counsel at Alperin Law, Judge Thomas Mueller (USA); Barrister Venkatesh Iyer (Northern Ireland); current governor of Kerala, Arif Mohammed Khan; assistant professor, Centre for the Study of Law and Governance at JNU, Ghazala Jamil; and writer, consultant and activist working on gender rights and minority rights, Farah Naqvi.

Over the three days, discussions will be held on a range of topics like ‘Democracy and the Rule of Law’; ‘After the Aadhar Judgement: Do people have the right to privacy?’; ‘Gender, legal profession and the courts: Is there a backlash?’; ‘Reforms in the administration of justice: What can help?’; ‘Making environmental laws effective: How to achieve sustainability?’; ‘And free speech, censorship & the media: Does law impede freedom of speech?’

Governor of Goa, Satya Pal Malik will be inaugurating the event on the evening of February 14. There will also be a panel focused on ‘Goa and the law’, discussing the uniform civil code’s desirability and viability and the

Goa Children’s Act of 2003, which was the first of its kind in the country. Moderated by principal, VM Salgaocar College of Law, MRK Prasad, it will feature four advocate panelists, Cleofato Coutinho, Elgar Noronha, Emedio Pinho, and Desmond DCosta. Justice MS Sonak from Goa will also be speaking on the panel discussing free speech.

Beyond the panel discussions held during the day at the International Centre Goa, there will also be an engaging talk ‘Above the Law’ on February 15 evening at Vivanta Goa Panaji, where investigative documentarian from Italy, Massimilano Mazzotta; investigative reporter on the ‘fourth mafia’ Maria Luisa Mastrogiovanni; and son of the Maltese journalist who leaked the Panama Papers, Paul Caruana Galizia; will be speaking. Mazzota’s documentary film on the polluting oil industry, featuring a refinery in southern Sardinia, will also be screened.

To capture the voice of students, the forum also opens up the debate to India’s universities through Daring Debates, an intensive college debate series on questions like whether sustainable development was an unsustainable idea? This year, the winning teams from Delhi, Shillong, Bengaluru, and Dehradun are invited to battle it out at the grand finale in Goa. Aside from the prizes on offer, this will allow the views of future leaders to be considered by experts and peers – an integral part of the forum’s inclusive dialogue. Workshops educating focus groups on their legal rights will also be held during Difficult Dialogues, including one on child rights by El Shaddai and for at-risk Dalit women from Stree Shakti by the NGO PHIA and Deepa Narayan of VM Salgaocar College of Law.

Further, actionable white papers will be created after the conference and published later, for the benefit of all.

(To register, one can visit www.difficultdialogues.in)