
| Forthcoming Events |
Guest Lecture by Mr. Ved Marwah on Ethno-Political Situation in India's Northeast, 16th January 2009.
Guest Lecture by Mr. Inder Malhotra on The Third Front in Indian Politics, 23rd January 2009
Panel Discussion on Revisiting Global Nuclear Disarmament, 2nd February, 2009
For more forthcoming events, click
here.
| Recent Events |
The Political Scene in India
December 18, 2008
“The next Lok-Sabha would be a short-term and the country may soon
have to go in for fresh elections”, according to Aditi Phadnis,
Political Editor, Business Standard who was speaking at a Guest
Lecture organized by CSA on December 18, 2008. While elaborating the
political scene in India, Ms. Phadnis noted that the Congress led
UPA must repeat it performance in Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Andhra
Pradesh in order to come back to Power. In Tamil Nadu, she said that
the power situations, layoffs from multinational companies as well
as commodity prices will affect the DMK front’s poll fortunes, while
in Andhra Pradesh the Telangana would be a major poll plank in 2009
elections. In Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s achievements in
social, health and education sector have made his government hugely
popular and this will affect the number of seats RJD can win in the
next elections. In responding to queries regarding the BSP, Ms.
Phadnis said that if the party wins 60 seats it could project
Mayawati as its prime ministerial candidate but it is doubtful
whether the BJP or the Congress will support her. You can read more
about this lecture in the bulletin that will be published shortly
Naxalism: Threat to Internal Security
November 21, 2008
CSA organized a Guest Lecture by Lt. Gen. (Retd.) K.
M Seth on the threat of naxalism on 21st November 2008. Gen. Seth
who is the Former Governor of Chattisgarh and Tripura, noted that
until recently naxalism was treated as a socio-economic problem and
at best as a law and order problem of the concerned State
Government. He explained the growth of left-wing extremism and the
causes of its
spread while the audience listened in rapt
attention. Gen. Seth spoke about the peace initiatives by the
Andhra Pradesh Government and also discussed the mind set of the CPI
(Maoist) in agreeing to negotiate. He also spoke at length about Salwa Judam. In conclusion he recommended a national strategy
comprising of talks at the national level, land reforms, application
of adequate force and the development of a joint task force for
Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and Maharashtra. The
full proceedings of this lecture will be published in the form of a
Bulletin.
Terrorism in Asia has been an ongoing phenomenon predating 9/11. India
and Southeast Asian countries have been victims of terrorism in a big
way. Prominent strikes in these parts include the 2001 attack on the
Indian parliament in New Delhi, the Bali bombings of 2002 and 2005,
and the Mumbai bombings of 2006. The changing nature of terrorism is
symbolized by its transnational character with a terrorist group in
any given region being able to source money, arms and manpower from
all over the world. Terrorist movements have over the period evolved
from the context of local political ends such as opposition to ruling
regimes, regional aspirations, separatist movements and socio-economic
deprivation, these sometimes acquiring wider regional dimensions. Some
of them have even been caught up in the larger ideological movement
of global jihad. The indiscriminate targeting of civilians has been
a feature of the newer and more virulent strains of terrorism. While
terrorism is fast getting globalised, counter terrorism measures have
been mostly half hearted and country specific. Given this background,
a seminar on Terrorism in South and Southeast Asia in the Coming
Decade was organized by CSA and ISEAS on 26-27 June, 2008 in
Singapore. Read the Summary of the Proceedings.
The proceedings of the seminar will be published in the form of an edited volume. Read the Summary of Proceedings.
The
Centre for Security Analysis (CSA) has been continuously involved
in encouraging and organising a sustained discourse on issues
relating to South, Southeast and East
Asia.
Conflict
Resolution and Peace Building in Sri Lanka
has been high on its agenda. CSA organised a series of seminars, discussions
and lectures wherein academics and policy analysts from both India and
Sri Lanka have dwelt at length on various issues. The first seminar
was organised in Chennai in December 2004 on the theme of Conflict
Resolution & Peace Building in Sri Lanka. Subsequently, two seminars
were organised in Colombo on the themes of Federalism and Conflict
Resolution in Sri Lanka in May 2005 and Peace Process
in Sri Lanka: Challenges and Opportunities in February 2006.
Given
this background, the Centre for Security Analysis
held
a
Seminar in Colombo in collaboration
with the
Bandaranaike Centre
for International Studies (BCIS)
on “Conflict in Sri Lanka: The Road Ahead ” during March 2008.
The proceedings of the seminar will be published as a book shortly.