Assam’s Bengali community – both Hindu and Muslim – are no strangers to the rhetoric of xenophobia. Since the war of ‘Liberation’ with Bangladesh in 1971, the arrival of migrants to Assam has been a central theme in regional politics, sometimes with violent consequences. In the eighties, Muslims of Bengali origin found themselves under sustained attack by groups such as the ‘Assam movement’. Today, millions of Assam’s inhabitants are having to provide evidence that they deserve to stay.

The state began re-drafting its National Register of Citizens in 2014, for the first time since 1951, as part of a campaign to identify undocumented migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh who had settled in the province. The entire population of the province is around 32 million people. To establish who has legitimate citizenship is a mammoth task of bureaucracy. The first draft awarded citizenship rights to 19 of those 32 million. A second draft still left out 4 million people – and many more could now come under scrutiny again.

“While there is not yet a precise breakdown regarding those excluded from the list, it appears that most are from ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, and in particular Muslims and Hindus of Bengali descent,” Fernand de Varennes, Special Rapporteur on minority issues.

To understand the processes at work, and the politics that underpins them, we’re joined by two experts with different backgrounds to shed light on the complex situation. As the 2019 Indian general election approaches, contested ideas of who – and who isn’t – an Indian citizen are likely to come to the fore, making this issue more relevant than ever.

Speakers

Fernand de Varennes is Dean of the Faculté de droit at the Université de Moncton in Canada and Extraordinary Professor at the Centre for Human Rights of the University of Pretoria in South Africa.  He was appointed United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues by the Human Rights Council and assumed his functions on 1 August 2017.

Alaphia Zoyab is a senior campaigner at the global campaigning organisation Avaaz who has been following the story in Assam and lobbying for action by the UN. She is a journalist by training having worked at India’s leading news station – NDTV. At Avaaz, Zoyab has campaigned to stop the Murdochs buying 100% of Sky, campaigned to strengthen laws against honour killing in Pakistan and urged the UN to issue an early warning of the humanitarian crisis that could unfold in Assam. She has two masters degrees in Mass Communication and International Affairs, and a Bachelors in English Literature.

Photograph courtesy of Avaaz

The election of President Donald Trump has raised tensions between the US and Iran just as an intense power struggle plays out ahead of Iran’s presidential election in May. The upcoming election was expected to decide to what extent Tehran opens up domestically — and to the outside world — after the 2015 nuclear deal ended the country’s isolation.

As the Iranian vote nears, the US senate is poised to pass a bill that will further enable Trump to violate the deal. Iran’s plans to restart its nuclear program if the deal falls apart have been labelled by some as ‘disastrous’ for the Middle East. How will Donald Trump’s plans to kill the nuclear deal affect the upcoming election, and Iran’s already strained relations with the West and its Gulf neighbours?

Ahead of the election we will reflect on Iran under President Rouhani, the future of his involvement in Syria, and where the country’s international relations are headed.

Chaired by Azadeh Moaveni (@AzadehMoaveni), senior lecturer in journalism at Kingston University, former Middle East correspondent for Time magazine and the Los Angeles Times and author of Lipstick Jihad and Honeymoon in Tehran. Her research has long focused on how political instability impacts women, and she is writing a book about women and ISIS.

Kasra Naji (@BBCKasraNaji) is special correspondent for BBC Persian TV and author of Ahmedinejad: The Secret History of Iran’s Radical Leader.

Saeed Kamali Dehghan (@SaeedKD) is a staff journalist with the Guardian. He has previously written from the Iranian capital, Tehran. He is now based in London and was named 2010 Journalist of the Year at the Foreign Press Association awards.

James Rubin is a writer, commentator and lecturer on world affairs and US foreign policy. He contributes a weekly column to The Sunday Times. He served under President Clinton as assistant secretary of state for public affairs and chief spokesman for secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright from 1997 to May 2000.

This special two-part series explores the interwoven history of the European project and the far right in postwar Europe – both East and West. Beginning with the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community from the ashes of World War II, we chart the trajectory of European integration, in tandem with the story of the European far right, recounting the series of shifts that have led to today’s critical juncture: a post-Brexit EU and a stark rise in support for far right parties across Europe.

We also trace the way in which far right politics has increasingly crept into the mainstream, setting the political agenda on issues such as the EU and immigration. Combining documentary storytelling with panel discussion, the series comprises both historical interpretation and incisive analysis on the history and future of Europe.

Runtime: 48′
Produced by: Al Jazeera English

Laurence Lee joined Al Jazeera in 2007 as Delhi correspondent and has also worked as Europe correspondent for the channel. A lifelong reporter, he began his career at the BBC before moving to Sky News. Laurence has reported from more than 40 countries around the world, covering the second Palestinian intifada and the Iraq war. He spent several years in Moscow covering Russia and the former Soviet bloc. Laurence’s work has won several RTS awards in the UK and he won the ‘Golden Verb’ prize for international correspondents in Moscow.

Sanjiev Johal first joined Al Jazeera in 2008 and has worked on projects covering current affairs and global geopolitics across various formats. He is part of a team currently working on special projects including an exploration of post-World War Two US political history.

Introducing The GroundTruth Project – Please Join us For a Drink and Discussion

The GroundTruth Project, a Boston-based non-profit news organisation, is dedicated to supporting the next generation of international correspondents.

On the eve of the US election, GroundTruth founders Charles Sennott and Gary Knight look forward to introducing GroundTruth to the London media community.

Calvin Sims, former New York Times correspondent and GroundTruth Board member, will moderate a panel discussion with columnist and author Laurie Penny and GroundTruth journalists from the US and the UK.

The Bonfire of The Vanities: America’s Election and the Media in an Age of Disaffection and Distrust

This US election is unprecedented. Partisan politics and aligned journalism have all but destroyed the reach of the US mainstream press.

Millennials prefer to voice their grievances on Twitter than in the polling booth. And in the media maelstrom, opinion often passes for fact.

We ask:
How much credibility has the media lost in this election?

Where does journalism fit in the polarised political and social landscape? What role should the media play to improve discourse?

Where will millennial journalists take the role of the media and can social media get out the millennial vote?

Chair:

Calvin Sims has more than 20 years of experience in journalism, philanthropy, and international affairs. He has served in senior roles at International House, The New York Times, Discovery Times Channel, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Ford Foundation, and leading non-profit organisations. At The New York Times, he served as bureau chief and foreign correspondent in Argentina, Japan, Korea, and Indonesia.

Speakers (full panel announced soon):

Laurie Penny is a journalist, feminist and author of five books including Unspeakable Things (Bloomsbury 2014), Cybersexism (Bloomsbury 2013) and Meat Market (Zer0 2011). She was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and a contributing Editor at New Statesman. Writes and speaks on social justice, pop culture, gender issues and digital politics for The Guardian, The New York Times, Vice, Salon, The Nation, The New Inquiry and many more.

Michael Goldfarb is a journalist author and broadcaster. He has reported for The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR and Global Post.

Matt Negrin is a freelance journalist who has written for Diane Sawyer, Politico, and The New York Times.

Kevin Grant is The GroundTruth Project’s Co-founder and Managing Editor. Previously Senior Editor of Special Reports at GlobalPost, he edits award-winning coverage on global religion and youth unemployment among others. He holds an M.A. in Online Journalism from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School, where he was a Dean’s Scholar and the founding Executive Editor of Annenberg’s thriving 24/7 news organization Neon Tommy. Grant is the former Operations Director of semantic news analyzer Inform.com.

Including The Choice, the newest in Michael Kirk’s U.S. elections series – a pinnacle of political broadcast journalism since 1988 – and other not-to-miss documentaries from the last year, this selection presents eye-opening analysis of the key issues that have come to the forefront of the race for the White House.

From gun laws to reproductive rights and police policies, U.S. Under the Lens will feature Q&As and panel discussions following each screening, encouraging dialogue and debate while showcasing the most interrogative and impactful films made by American documentary makers this year.

Schedule (click for more information and booking):

12 September – Under the Gun + panel discussion with director Stephanie Soechtig and others

5 October – PBS America Presents: The Choice 2016 + Q&A with director Michael Kirk

17 October – TRAPPED + Q&A with director Dawn Porter

24 October – Do Not Resist + Q&A with director Craig Atkinson

7 November – National Bird + Panel Discussion

On Wednesday 20 January 2016, in front of a sold out audience at the Frontline Club, a panel of experts – chaired by journalist Michael Goldfarb – set out to discuss what is in store for this election year in the United States.

With Donald Trump a serious contender for the Republican ticket, and Bernie Sanders challenging Hillary Clinton for the Democrat candidacy, much of the discussion focused on exactly how and why this unprecedented turn of events had arisen.

Chair Michael Goldfarb kicked off the discussion by asking: “Hand on heart, a year ago had you any idea that this is where we’d be in the presidential campaign of 2016? With Donald Trump well ahead of the pack of the Republican party, and with Bernie Sanders gaining traction on Hillary Clinton?”

“No… but perhaps we should have been,” said Xenia Wickett, head of the US programme at Chatham House.

Peter Trubowitz, professor of International Relations at LSE, highlighted the depth of white resentment “on both sides” of the political spectrum as a reason for Trump’s success. On the right, Trump is tapping into the blue collar and evangelical demographic; on the left, it’s the “college age, highly educated (…) turned off by Hillary and turned on by Sanders or at least some alternative (…) They want something that is more progressive,” said Trubowitz.

“I think they are angry both on the right and on the left, because they believe the political system isn’t working (…) I don’t think it is white resentment, I think it’s a matter of issues and it’s more complicated,” said William Lowery, vice-chair of the Republicans Overseas UK.

“People are sick and tired” of the current state of politics, said Lowery – Trump is successfully tapping into that.

The panel then discussed whether Trump would continue to feature so heavily on the agenda in six weeks time. Trubowitz pointed to Iowa as a potential turning point: “If they [Trump supporters] show up there then something serious is happening.” Washington-based journalist Adam Brookes agreed, and commented that “the bubble will pop” if Trump were to lose in Iowa.

With Clinton’s name most likely on the Democrat ticket, Goldfarb posed the question: “Who can beat Hillary?”

Wickett responded that the candidacy will be Clinton’s to lose, but that “she’s doing a really good job of losing.” The panel agreed that the abortion issue and Clinton’s gender will ultimately pull voters. Women – whether Republican or Democrat – will be more likely to vote for Clinton.

However, Lowery argued that “anyone can beat Hillary Clinton” – as Americans are reluctant to return to the drama of the Clinton family. Lowry also commented that Republic voters often believe that any of their candidates can – and will – beat Hillary Clinton.

V informative & thought-provoking @frontlineclub panel this evening on #USElection looking at how much more polarised US politics is getting

— Emily (@emily_wight) January 20, 2016

“Presidential elections are won in the swing states and at the centre,” said Brookes. The Vice President nomination for both the Republican and Democrat candidate could be vital for winning the swing states. The panel pointed to Michael Bloomberg as one to watch as a potential independent candidate.

In terms of implementing genuine change through policy, the panel noted that the topic of immigration seemed to present the most significant opportunity.

One audience member asked the panel to comment on how American citizens tended to vote – with a view to policy, personality or history? Lowery observed that the portion of voters motivated by policy is diminishing: “it’s very hard to make a policy re-tweetable.”

With just under a year to go until the presidential elections, Brookes concluded that there are still “all kinds of possible outcomes.”

It is election year in the US and one man has dominated the headlines. Six months ago, the prospect of Donald Trump as presidential candidate might have been something to joke about but it is now looking increasingly like a reality. What does this mean for the Republican Party?

With the Republican race dominating much of the spotlight, what about the Democrats? Are we set to see the first female president in the White House? With primaries about to begin, we will be looking at the battles going on in both parties and who we might see come out on top.

What does the rise of Trump mean for politics in the US? We will be looking at the political landscape in the lead up to the November presidential election.

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Chaired by Michael Goldfarb, journalist author and broadcaster. He has reported for The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR and Global Post.

The panel:

Xenia Wickett is the head of the US Programme at Chatham House and the dean of the Academy for Leadership in International Affairs, Chatham House’s new leadership training initiative. Prior to this she was the executive director of the PeaceNexus Foundation and from 2005 to 2009 she was at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center.

Adam Brookes is an independent journalist and author based in Washington, DC. For many years, he reported for BBC News on American politics and the economy, with a special focus on defence and security. He contributed to the BBC’s coverage of three presidential elections – in ’04, ’06, and ‘12.

Peter Trubowitz is professor of international relations and director of the US Centre at the London School of Economics and associate fellow at Chatham House. Before joining the LSE, he was professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin. His most recent book is Politics and Strategy: Partisan Ambition and American Statecraft.

William Lowery is a New York qualified lawyer and works for an international law firm in London. He is the vice-chair of Republicans Overseas UK, an organisation that represents and promotes the interests of Americans living, working, and studying in the United Kingdom.

L to R: Richard Cockett, Hkanhpa Sadan, Wai Hnin Pwint Thon, Robert Cooper, Paul French

Meanwhile certain regions of Burma are about to learn how to cast a ballot on November 8, ethnic minorities in rural areas are fleeing their homes that are being burnt by the military forces.

On Tuesday September 22, a panel of experts and activists discussed the uncertain future of the country that has been suffering the longest ongoing civil war.

Shortly after Paul French, commentator on Asia chairing the panel, invited the speakers to make their pitch about the current situation, it became clear that opinions about the value of recent reforms value immensely.

Meanwhile general secretary of the Kachin National Council Hkanhpa Sadan and campaigns officer at Burma Campaign UK Wai Hnin Pwint Thon said they can be hardly excited about the election, The Economist correspondent Richard Cockett  and adviser to EU representatives Robert Cooper sustained that the progress has been palpable.

“What western community did was they gave us furniture so far and television, but we still don’t have a roof to live under. They gave us the furniture, because they want the garden,” Mr Sadan outlined the perspective of the Burmese.

Ms Pwint Thon criticised the constitution introduced in 2008, which in her view gives a fake illusion of a legal state. “The aim of the constitutions is to create an appearance of change while still holding on to military power and while giving the military the power to decide on economy and politics of the country,” she said.

Mr Cockett underlined that the reforms should be considered in a relevant context. “You should judge Burma against the standards of the region, not against standards of western democracy or British parliamentary democracy,” he said numbering increasingly oppressive countries like Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Cambodia.

According to him, the idea of restoring order in the country is inaccurate. “This country has never experienced order. It’s never experienced peace. Indeed, it’s never experienced an existence as a coherent country at all,” Mr Cockett said referring to the conflict ongoing since 1948.

Mr Cooper reckoned that the upcoming election might become the fairest that the country will have witnessed. “It’s been contested by a large number of parties. It’s got a large number of observers, very large number of local monitors and a large number of international observers there. And it’s not happened before,” he said.

Nevertheless, all the speakers concluded that the way towards genuine democracy, peace with ethnic minorities and complete freedom of expression will be long and bumpy.

Ms Pwint Thon criticised the western “wait and see” approach and Mr Cockett admitted that the economic withdrawal from Myanmar didn’t help the situation either. “It meant that the best practices left the country and they were left with Chinese companies who didn’t care or ever thought about human rights,” he said.

The panel also agreed that the anticipated election might not be that key in the transition. One of the root causes of the conflict is oppression of the country’s minorities.

Mr Sadan underlined that Myanmar has introduced one of the most discriminative religious laws in the world. Ms Pwint Thon added it is not only Muslims, but also women who are not treated equally.

Mr Cockett spoke about a “very poisonous sectarian atmosphere” that he considers one of the real dangers of the election. “It could be a real flashpoint that they exploit all this in the run-up to the election and even after the election. It’ll be extremely explosive in Rakhine state itself where the Rohingya have been entirely disenfrenchised and the buddhist Rakhine nationalists will use this to rally opinion and if the attack Muslims,” he said.

On 8 November, the people of Myanmar will go to the polls in an election that is being seen as a step towards full democracy after nearly half a century of military rule.

Myanmar has seen reforms come into effect since 2010, when military rule was replaced by a military-backed civilian government, but how far have these reforms gone and what more needs to be done?

One of the largest and once one of the richest countries in Southeast Asia, what impact have successive military regimes had on Myanmar?

With a panel of experts we will explore what life is like in Myanmar, the political and ethical divisions, and what change the election will bring.

Chaired by Paul French, an author and widely published analyst and commentator on Asia, Asian politics and current affairs. He is author of North Korea: State of Paranoia and the international bestseller Midnight in Peking.

The panel:

Hkanhpa Sadan is general secretary of the Kachin National Council, Kachin National Organisation. He is one of the founding members of the exile Kachin political movement based in the UK with branches across Europe, the US and Asia.

Dr Richard Cockett is editor and correspondent at The Economist. He is the author of several books, including Sudan: Darfur and the Failure of an African state and Blood, Dreams and Gold: The Changing Face of Burma.

Robert Cooper worked for ten years for the European Union High Representative, Javier Solana and later Catherine Ashton. From 2012 he served a further year as a special adviser on Myanmar. He served as a diplomat from 1970 to 2002, his posts included Tokyo, Brussels, Bonn, head of the policy planning staff and Asia director.

Wai Hnin Pwint Thon is a campaigns officer at Burma Campaign UK. She is the daughter of Mya Aye, one of the leaders of the 88-generation Students Group. Born in Rangoon – because of her father’s activities she faced harassment and discrimination and left the country in 2006 to continue her studies.

PLEASE NOTE THIS EVENT WILL BE FILMED AND STREAMED LIVE ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Photo: Htoo Tay Zar. Aung San Suu Kyi greeting supporters from Bago State in 2011.

With the leaders’ debates finally announced we would like to invite you to join us to watch the seven-way ITV debate on the big screen. Anchored by ITV News’ Julie Etchingham the evening will see David Cameron, Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg, Nigel Farage, Nicola Sturgeon, Natalie Bennett and Leanne Wood go head to head.

The clubroom will be open for drinks from 7:00 PM and the debate will run from 8:00 – 10:00 PM. There is no charge to attend but please register if you would like to join us.

Photo: pcruciatti / Shutterstock.com