About this Event
Two major protest movements emerged in India between 2019 and 2021. The first came in response to the Indian parliament’s passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in December 2019. The other followed the approval of three agricultural reform laws in September 2020.
This conversation will explore why one movement – the farmers’ – was successful while another struggled to achieve its objectives. Panelists will discuss how both movements organized for action, how they sustained it, and what lessons activists around the world can take from their experiences.
The two movements were different. The anti-CAA movement spoke in terms of democratic rights and sought to rally opposition to policies that activists argued disadvantaged the country’s Muslim minority. The symbols of the movement were Muslim women who for months raised encampments blocking a major road at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi and elsewhere throughout the country. Facing political headwinds and COVID lockdowns, the movement was effectively shut down in March 2020.
The Farmers’ Movement was based on opposition to economic policy. It mobilized cross-caste and international support, from celebrities to diaspora communities, in opposition to the laws. Over the course of a year the encampments multiplied and support for the farmers grew; in November 2021 the government announced the reform laws would be repealed.
Please join Perry World House for this conversation on how activists can mobilize for effective protest in a context of shrinking civic space.
Panelists
Mandeep Punia is an independent freelance journalist. With over a decade of experience he brings a deeply informed perspective on rural India, press freedom, and the challenges of independent journalism. His reportage has been published in leading outlets including The Caravan, Newslaundry, Outlook, The Wire, and Down To Earth. While reporting on the 2020–2021 Indian farmers’ protests from the Singhu border, he was arrested by Delhi Police and spent time in Tihar J*il, where he continued documenting the experiences of protesting farmers. His work during the movement was featured in an Al Jazeera documentary.
Gurpreet Singh Sangha lives in Rajasthan, near the border of Punjab and Haryana. After beginning his career in the private sector, including work in Singapore, the Middle East, and Europe, he returned to India in 2009 and became involved with NGOs and cooperative movements in Rajasthan, Punjab, Maharashtra, and other regions. When the three farm bills were introduced in June 2020, he took a leading role in organizing and coordinating the dozens of farmer unions and organizations involved in the protest. He continues his activism on behalf of farmers in India.
Natasha Narwal is a feminist activist and PhD researcher studying carcerality in contemporary India. Narwal has participated in various student movements in Delhi in the last two decades and has been an active member of the women student collective Pinjratod. Narwal was charged and incarcerated for participation in the anti-CAA movement and spent 13 months in Tihar Women's J*il before being released on bail.
About the Series
Lessons from Global Democratic Resistance is a public panel series that brings together frontline activists, civic leaders, institutional actors, and field‑informed scholars to examine how democratic actors have resisted, responded to, and learned across countries. The series aims to identify practical lessons and comparative insights for those advancing democracy today and is organized by the Ash Center for Democratic Governance at the Harvard Kennedy School in collaboration with the Cornell Center on Global Democracy; Perry World House at the University of Pennsylvania; the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame; the Democratic Futures Project at the University of Virginia; Stanford’s Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law; and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
This event is online only, and registration is required.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Perry World House, 3803 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, United States
USD 0.00
