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Speakers
What makes a nation?
Is there a difference between a patriot and a nationalist?
What is the truth about our land?
What is the past that many of us have no idea about, especially those
who have come to take what they are told as actuality?
What does our history teach us?
The Queen of All Nations attempts to tell the truth about us, our India and separate fact from myth. The various events that have shaped India over the last century and a half, the personalities who have made – and continue to make – the essence of what this country is, and what it is not, are provided in this overview of modern India. Whereas this primer seeks to reach out to young Indians in particular, who take today’s world, and word, for granted, as if none other ever existed, it is also meant for readers of all age-groups.
The panel discusses the themes the book addresses while throwing light on the various twists and bends the history of this nation has taken over the past one hundred and sixty six years.
Speakers
Abhijit Sengupta
Abhijit Sengupta was born in 1948 in independent India, and grew up to love the national anthem and the national flag. He joined the Karnataka Cadre of the Indian Administrative Service in 1972 and took his oath of allegiance to the Constitution of India. He retired in 2008, and as an ordinary citizen now, he has tried to remain true to the ideals of the Constitution.
Jayna Kothari
Jayna Kothari is a Senior Advocate and practices in the Supreme Court of India. She is a co-founder of the Centre for Law and Policy Research. She graduated from University Law College with a B.A. LL.B degree and read the BCL at Oxford University. Jayna was awarded the Wrangler D.C. Pavate Fellowship in Cambridge University.
Jayna’s research and practice interests include constitutional law, gender and sexuality law, disability rights and discrimination law. She had argued in the Supreme Court in the recent constitutional challenges to Section 377 and adultery which were both decriminalized. She also argued the Independent Thought case in which the Supreme Court recognized child marital rape as a criminal offence. Her book, “The Future of Disability Law in India” was published in 2012 by Oxford University Press.
Paranjoy Guha Thakurta
Guha Thakurta’s work experience, spanning more than four decades, cuts across different media. He is a writer, speaker, anchor, interviewer, teacher, analyst/commentator, publisher, producer, director and consultant. His main areas of interest are the working of the political economy and the media in India and the world, on which he has authored or co-authored seven books, published 25 books since April 2014, and directed/produced documentary films and music videos. In particular, he examines the allocation and pricing of natural resources, the working of crony capitalism and oligarchies, and mass communications in India. He has teaching as a member of the visiting faculty at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad for the last 18 years and has taught in several other educational institutions. He is a consultant with the NewsClick portal.
