As India transitions from a traditional society to a contemporary society with progressive values, numerous complex issues are being exposed. There is a clash of traditional and modern thoughts which are being reflected in the enforcement of laws, as well as fueling a demand to reexamine and modify the existing laws by competing interests. In the wider context, this may have a worldwide impact as India is a moderating influence in the region.

Ram Jethmalani, Member of Parliament and ex Law and Justice Minister of India, will be in conversation with Charles Foster of FosterQuan LLP, and Asia Society Texas Center Chairman.

Schedule

Registration and Reception: 6:30 pm
Program: 7:00 pm

Tickets

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About the Speaker

Ram Jethmalani, a Member of Parliament in India, is now over 90 years old and still practicing law. He has been for generations, and continues to be, one of the foremost public personalities of India. Trained as a lawyer, he has practiced law at the highest levels, served in various high level federal government positions, taught law in India and the US, written books, writes a column and comments regularly in the media on current affairs, and in his lifelong commitment to the defense of rule of law and justice has played influential roles in some of the most controversial political and legal dramas of the past 50 years. His current membership in the upper house (Rajya Sabha) of the federal Indian Parliament is just the latest of his political and legal accomplishments.

His ongoing legal practice focuses on high profile criminal and constitutional cases. He defended Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri convicted for the 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's killers, and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's killers. For him, his most meaningful case was defending the findings of the Mandal Report and establishing an affirmative action plan for the Indian nation’s lower castes.

Mr. Jethmalani has also served in the lower house of Parliament; started a newspaper; founded a charity to work in the fields of education, public health and the environment; serves in various capacities with many other non-profits; and has receive numerous national and international awards for his contributions to human rights and justice.

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