Deliberately stayed away from farmers’ protest on Delhi borders: Arundhati Roy
The celebrated Booker Prize-winning author and activist Arundhati Roy on Saturday afternoon said she deliberately chose to stay away from the protest of farmers on the Delhi borders in 2020-21 as she did not want them to be labelled with her as “jihadi” or “naxals”.
Addressing a huge gathering on the last day of Mela Gadri Babian Da at Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall here, she said, “In India, anyone who revolts against the corporate or religious fundamentalism are called so. When you were protesting on the Delhi border, I was not so much involved in your andolan. But even in my absence, they did not spare you. You too were branded as they called you ‘Khalistanis’. That is their style to brand you and prosecute you.”
Speaking about threats to her over imposition of the UAPA, the activist said, “You all heard it when Amit Shah had said that a section of so-called intellectuals are even more dangerous than terrorists holding guns in their hands. We all know why all leftists like Umar Khalid were sent to jail. We were a sizable bunch of people including Prof SAR Geelani and Prof GN Saibaba (who are no more) and Rona Wilson (who is behind bars). We all used to stand behind one another. But now, there are just two or three of us left. Our numbers may have fallen, but we will continue to say whatever we have to. I keep on telling this to them, ‘Whatever it is, I will never be on your side’.”
While equating Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the newly-elected US President Donald Trump, she said, “They are more or less the same. Both of them can speak anything. Now that Trump is back, the World War could be imminent. In such a case, we have to be clear as to which side we are on. The US can only hurl bombs, but cannot fight on the ground. So far, India has been with Israel supplying it with arms. It is only the Punjabis and the Keralites like me who have so far supported the Palestinians. I was just told that even the next generations of Gadri Babas stand against atrocities, be it anywhere. We need to stand for others. This enhances our inner strength.”
About her novel “God of Small Things” that brought her fame, she said, “It touched every subject. It talked about emotions, society, government, river and soil. When my novel was released, complaints were lodged against me that my book had some vulgar points. But in reality, they were upset since it mentioned about casteism. When I got the prize, they all started praising my writing style. No one talked about the politics that I wrote about in the book. Writers don’t write with a manifesto in hand. We hunt for the truth, structure it and jot it down.”
