Will India Arrest Arundhati Roy?
NEW DELHI (News Agencies) – Arundhati Roy, the internationally recognized author and activist, is currently wanted by Indian authorities. The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi has granted police permission to prosecute the Booker Prize-winning novelist under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, a stringent anti-terrorism law that allows the state to incarcerate individuals before they are given a trial.
Roy, is outspoken in her criticism of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is being targeted for remarks she made in a 2010 speech. During a lecture at the Little Theatre Group in New Delhi, she criticized India’s occupation and administration of Kashmir. Her critics say these remarks amounted to a call for Kashmiri secession.
In her 2020 essay collection, “Azadi: Freedom, Fascism, Fiction,” Roy documents the situation in Kashmir, drawing on the Kashmiri resistance cry and the Urdu word for freedom. She has also been a vocal critic of Hindu nationalism.
Liberals and opposition parties have noted the suspicious timing of this prosecution, as Indian courts are currently on vacation. The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, V.K. Saxena, sanctioned the prosecution of Roy based on allegations that she promoted the idea that Kashmir was never part of India, was forcibly occupied by the Indian Armed Forces and that every effort should be made for the independence of Jammu and Kashmir. Recordings of her speech were provided by the complainant.
Amrit Lall
/
Freedom has limits. In most countries, freedom to cause disorder and mayhem in society is punishable. The State’s first responsibility is to maintain law and order. Without it, no state can be governed. Arundhati Roy has challenged that very responsibility. The State is justified to prosecute her.
June 18, 2024Amar Deep
/
Was she threatening law and order? Is the Indian state so weak that it is threatened by the words of one woman? If you’re a true patriot you will know your country is strong.
June 18, 2024PAmin
/
First constitutional change was done by Nehru and it was for restricting the freedom of speech. RAGA and congress should remember.
June 18, 2024Sandip Dasverma
/
But a 10 or 4-year-old speech, if it were capable of doing harm, would have the country already in fire. If not it is humbug.
June 18, 2024