Arundhati Roy: Offender of the big things

The real fact that the Left fashioned anti-India activists/crusaders/urban naxals/urban terrorists were never revealed for the last many decades is that they were able to speak against the country because they were protected by the country. We can rephrase this statement. They can speak against the Constitution because they were protected by the Constitution. The above so-called pseudo-activists were in reality parasites who exploited the leniencies of the Indian Constitution. Nod for Prosecution Recently, Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Vinai Kumar Saxena gave prosecution sanction against Arundhati Roy and Dr Sheikh Showkat Hussain, former professor of International law in Central University of Kashmir, under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for making anti-national speeches against Kashmir in an event organised under the banner of “Azaadi- The only way” on October 21, 2010 at LTG Auditorium, Delhi. An FIR in the matter was registered on a complaint made by Sushil Pandit, a social activist from Kashmir on October 28, 2010. Other speakers who shared their views in the event were Syed Ali Shah Geelani, SAR Geelani and Varvara Rao. Arundhati Roy in the event said, “Kashmir has never been an integral part of India.” She further stated that it was forcibly occupied by the Armed Forces of India. In October 2023, LG of Delhi granted sanction to prosecute them under Sections 196 of CrPC for commission of offences punishable under different sections of IPC: 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language etc and doing acts prejudicial to maintainance of harmony), 153 B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 505 ( statements conducting to public mischief). Courting Controversy “Azaadi – The only way” seminar was conducted by the Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP). As per the report of Shuddhabrata Sengupta on this conference and its aim, “CRPP thought it necessary to pose the question directly, as the people of Kashmir, in their persistent struggle for their right to self-determination braving the repressive apparatus of the Indian State had dared even in their death”. In the report, it was clearly stated that SAR Geelani had quoted that how “a small boy was brutally beaten to death by the CRPF, which was just one example of the untold atrocities and oppression committed by the occupation forces of India. Thousands have been injured, many have been blinded, raped, maimed and yet many are languishing in prison.” Thus, making false allegations on our brave soldiers. Geelani also clearly stated, by quoting Nehru, that the Indian Parliament had no right to decide on the future of Kashmir. False Claims Varavara Rao stated that the anti-national activities happening in Kashmir was a fight to regain their lost independence against the “imperialist oppression”. Rao also stated that the Indian state has repeatedly used military force against the people. He further asserted that “much like British colonial rule, the rule from Delhi was and is still being imposed through force in Kashmir and Telangana. He implored the audience to critically reflect on the reasons for our silence as to why the army is being deployed in Kashmir and the North-East.” Rao had also made false claims that in almost all the regions of India wherever people are fighting against the oppression of the Indian state, they are in support of Kashmir’s independence. Rao even supported the activities of CPI (Maoist) in his speech by asserting that Naxalite movement upholds the right of the oppressed nationalities for self determination, including that of the Kashmiris, and even stated that the Constitution has proven to be hollow for the last 63 years for the vast sections of the people of the subcontinent. A big instigator “The British drew the map of India in 1899— so that country became a colonizing power the moment it became independent, and the Indian state has militarily intervened in Manipur, in Nagaland, in Mizoram, in Kashmir, in Telangana, during the Naxalbari uprising, in Punjab, in Hyderabad, in Goa, in Junagarh...So often the Indian government, the Indian state, the Indian elite, they accuse the Naxalites of believing in protracted war, but actually you see a State—the Indian State—that has waged protracted war against its own people or what it calls its own people relentlessly since 1947, and when you look at who are those people that it has waged war against— the Nagas, the Mizos, the Manipuris, people in Assam, Hyderabad, Kashmir, Punjab—it’s always a minority, the Muslims, the Tribals, the Christians, the Dalits, the Adivasis, endless war by an upper caste Hindu state, this is what is the modern history of our country” — Excerpt of the speech by Arundhati Roy, delivered on October 21, 2010 at a seminar titled ‘Azadi: The Only Way’ GN Saibaba, in his speech, has clearly stated that the right to self determination for oppressed nationalities including the Kashmiri, Nagas, Manipuri people, etc. is enshrined in his organisation Revolutionary Democratic Front’s basic programme and is an inalienable right. He was the deputy secretary of Revolutionary Democratic Front at that time. He also falsely accused that when Kashmiri people came out in millions in the streets of Jammu and Kashmir, the response of the Indian state was to kill and maim the protestors. He further stated that the people of Kashmir were not merely asking for their human rights. “The voice is loud and clear that they want India to go out. The demand of the people of the North East, too, is the same.” He further claims that “We are living under a military rule imposed in the name of democracy” . He calls our Armed Forces as “fascist”. The seminar also included speeches of pro-Khalistani leaders like Har Charanjit Singh and Kanwarpal Singh. Using Roy’s Speech to Lambast Bharat In 2017, Maleeha Lodhi, then Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN, quoted Arundhati Roy to castigate India’s policies as murderous by showing a photo of an injured girl. However, that photo was of a girl from Gaza and not [...]