THE SPEAKING CONSTITUTION : A Sisyphean Life in Law

vandana.rathore@harpercollins.co.in | 24 November 2022

HarperCollins

Presents

THE SPEAKING CONSTITUTION

A Sisyphean Life in Law

by K.G. Kannabiran, translated by Kalpana Kannabiran

‘This unfinished Sisyphean struggle has not made me tire of it;

mine has been the struggle for a better world and the struggle is its own reward.’

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From Ansari Begum’s deportation case in the aftermath of Partition to encounter deaths and custodial killings, the work of citizens’ tribunals post the 2002 Gujarat massacre, the peace talks and negotiations between Naxalites and the Andhra Pradesh government, the highly polarizing trial of Afzal Guru, Kannabiran shines light on human rights violations in courts across the country. 

This book is reflective of Kannabiran’s lifelong battle with the state and his work in the civil liberties movement in India. 

Paperback | Non-fiction| Biography, Memoir and True Story | 340 pp | Rs 699

Available Wherever Books Are Sold | Releasing 11^th Dec 2022

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‘My dear friend K.G. Kannabiran, a lawyer of the highest calibre … devoted every waking moment to the victims of oppression … by society as well as the State.’

– Arun Shourie

Kalpana Kannabiran, says, “K.G. Kannabiran’s work was profoundly affected by the vicissitudes of deliberative democracy (dramatic and mundane), and his incessant, untiring effort was to find ways of historicizing the Constitution — rejecting a reductionist, formulaic route to interpretation. Beyond this, importantly, he charts the Emergency way beyond the Emergency, and follows the travails of justice through his penetrative gaze at the law yielding the most unexpected, even startling insights. His frequent resort to the idea of an ‘insurgency’ in jurisprudence, administration and advocacy, for instance, recognizes the inherent transformative imperative the Constitution of India signals, and engages with the fact that unless courts were explicitly counter-hegemonic and counter-colonial, justice could never be done. In interweaving this approach with his arguments in litigation on the reach of the Constitution, Kannabiran urged courts to take ‘insurgent’ positions in their constitutional deliberations, mindful of social and political contexts. The questions of philosophy, law and politics embedded in his everyday travels in courts hold several lessons for our understanding of our history and our present-futures”

Senior Editor, Suchismita Ukil, says, “Kandala Gopalaswamy Kannabiran, or simply KGK, was a doyen of the civil liberties movement in India. A real champion of democracy, he gave voice to the voiceless, or rather amplified the voices of the marginalized – always speaking truth to power in the process. Unafraid to call out the powerful, he became somewhat of a peoples’ hero for chiding the courts. He had once famously proclaimed the state as terrorist, and actively challenged the judiciary to do better and uphold the Indian Constitution and the rule of law. A story of immense courage and inspiration, it is an honour to publish KGK’s memoir”

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 ABOUT THE BOOK

‘This unfinished Sisyphean struggle has not made me tire of it; mine has been the struggle for a better world and the struggle is its own reward.’

The Speaking Constitution takes a close look at the functioning of the Constitution and the development of the idea of justice through the courts, mapping in the process a legal geography of civil liberties in India through the work of one of its most committed campaigners.

An edited translation of the oral memoir narrated by advocate and human rights activist K.G. Kannabiran (1929–2010), this book is reflective of Kannabiran’s lifelong battle with the state and his work in the civil liberties movement in India.

From Ansari Begum’s deportation case in the aftermath of Partition to encounter deaths and custodial killings, the work of citizens’ tribunals post the 2002 Gujarat massacre, the peace talks and negotiations between Naxalites and the Andhra Pradesh government, the highly polarizing trial of Afzal Guru and the question of the death penalty, Kannabiran shines light on human rights violations in courts across the country and the radical possibilities the Constitution offers citizens today. In the process, he maps a legal geography of the civil liberties movement in India.

Rich in detail and insightful, The Speaking Constitution: A Sisyphean Life in Law interweaves personal history with that of courtcraft and politics to create an unparalleled account of the evolution of jurisprudence in India.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

K.G. KANNABIRAN (1929–2010) was senior advocate, Andhra Pradesh High Court, and an architect of the civil liberties movement in India. He was president of the Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (1978–1993) and national president of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (1995–2009).

KALPANA KANNABIRAN is a sociologist and legal scholar based in Hyderabad, India, whose work focuses on the intersections of constitutional studies, human rights, law and literature, gender studies and social movements.

Among her books are: Tools of Justice (2012), Gender Regimes and the Politics of Privacy (2021) and Law, Justice and Human Rights in India (2021). She is the second of K.G. Kannabiran’s three children.

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK 

‘This book by the doyen of the human rights movement and lawyering in India … shows that human rights activism is not just about passion but also about craft, courage, conviction and grounded reality.’

MIHIR DESAI, vice president, People’s Union for Civil Liberties

‘This fascinating memoir … gives an insider’s account of the golden era of human rights mobilization in India … A lawyer and a peacemaker, we truly miss him in the South Asia of today.’

RADHIKA COOMARASWAMY, former UN under-secretary-general

‘This is a work that must interest and engage all those across the globe who fight for a just and inclusive society.’

GISELE CITTADINO, associate professor, Pontifical Catholic University, Rio de Janeiro

‘Sisyphean, indeed! This book is a testament to a struggle to humanize the Indian Constitution and is an indispensable moral testimony, so vital for the social sciences and legal studies, but also for human and social rights activists beyond India … It reads like a haunting war journal.’

ARI SITAS, emeritus professor, University of Cape Town

‘The legendary proportions of K.G. Kannabiran’s contribution to holding powers accountable to the Constitution are brought to life in this book through a reflective autobiography and a biographical recounting by Kalpana Kannabiran in her matchless “Introduction”.’

N. DEVY, writer and cultural activist

‘K.G. Kannabiran’s memoir gives us an invaluable look into the life of a person dedicated to the cause of civil liberties, human rights, justice and dignity. It was a life that never gave up hope.’

RANABIR SAMADDAR, political scientist

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For reviews, excerpts, interviews, and more information, please contact Vandana Rathore at
vandana.rathore@harpercollins.co.in