Lawyers uphold Right to Dissent
11/08/2026
New Delhi,August 11 (KIP)-The Delhi Union of Journalists(DUJ) congratulates the Delhi unit of the All India Lawyers Union for successfully holding its 16th Delhi State conference on the question of dissent and people's Constitutional rights.
The conference was held on Sunday August 9, 2026 at the Saket District Court.
The morning session was moderated by advocate Adrija Bhadra. The day began with an address by AILU General Secretary and Senior Advocate P.V. Surendranath who spoke of how GenZ's protest has captured people's imagination and has broken the fear psychosis of older generations. The government, he said, realises this and is making concerted efforts to win over the young. It is our duty, he said, to ensure the spirit of the young is not quenched.
Two illuminating lectures followed.
Dr Anumeha Mishra, who teaches law at Delhi University, made a brilliant presentation on "The Future of Dissent in India: Police, Protest and Constitutional Rights". She observed that while Post-Colonial India's Constitution was progressive in intent, the country retained the repressive machinery of the colonial state, its laws and police apparatus. These instruments of a colonial government have been reinforced in later years, e.g. through preventive detention laws.
Dr Mishra said that law has the potential to be emancipatory and that is what we must strive towards. She said civil society movements have a role to play in reinforcing democracy. The Constitution, she said, allows peaceful resistance. The issue is who has the burden of proving peaceful protest?
She referred to Anand Teltumbde's question asking how has the state become a license holder for permitting protests? Why is our right to protest hostage to the state's license, she asked. Democracy, she pointed out, depends on dissent yet protesters are termed anti-national and some are even called terrorists and held under NSA. She said the entire concept of Rights emerged to limit the power of the state. Decrying the tendency towards autocratic legalism, she held that it is the role of lawyers to be officers of justice, not order.
Dr. Gauhar Raza, eminent scientist and scholar, spoke on "Imperialism: Current Scenario and New Challenges" He said the world is now integrated and cited the example of the crisis in Surat's diamond markets where Trump's tariffs have forced the shutdown of many diamond polishing units and small businesses. He said unemployment is rife and parents are being forced to pull children out of school as they can no longer pay fees.
Dr Raza observed that as the colonial powers retreated post World War II the USÀ became the new imperial power. It wanted access to markets worldwide and protected this access through wars, both those it fought directly and the many more it sponsored through proxies. It developed and controlled a military industrial complex.
The Soviet Union, it said, was for many years a wall against this Imperialism. The United Nations became an instrument to impose limits on wars, with member countries passing many international Conventions. However, he said, the latest war has broken all Conventions in Iran e.g. by killing the Iranian head of state and by attacking a girls' school.
He regretted the visit of Prime Minister Modi on the eve of the attack on Iran, saying it was a failure of either our Intelligence or our foreign policy. He recalled that India had once built NAM and was respected internationally but stands isolated now.
Dr Raza also spoke at length on scientific temper and how science questions the laws of the universe and changes with new discoveries. Religions, on the other hand, tend to be rigid, immutable. People are willing to kill or die for religion but no one kills in the name of science or rationality, he pointed out, arguing for the spread of better education and science in the country.
Ms. Sujata Madhok, representing the Delhi Union of Journalists, spoke of the multiple ways in which dissent has been controlled over the years. She recalled that in the 1990s the expansive Boat Club lawns were open for all protests before Parliament. Protesting women's groups once chained themselves to the circle directly opposite Parliament. Then the police restricted the venue to Mantar Mantar road, a couple of kilometres away from Parliament. Now barricades restrict that space further and night stays that were the norm are disallowed. Similarly, public meetings are now limited to a handful of venues in the city because of police pressure. These moves have not been challenged, she said.
The morning session concluded with greetings from fraternal bodies. The afternoon session was reserved for organisational matters of the Delhi AILU.