Writer-activist stays defiant in the face of possible arrest for sedition, Centre says comments unfortunate.
Writer-activist Arundhati Roy, facing arrest for sedition, was defiant and asserted on Tuesday that there was nothing new in what she said on Kashmir.
The people of Kashmir live under one of the most “brutal military occupations” in the world, she said, adding, “I said what millions of people here [in Kashmir] say every day. I spoke about justice for the people of Kashmir.”
Speaking at a seminar in Srinagar on Sunday, Roy had said Jammu and Kashmir was never part of India. The statement had come close on the heels of a similar remark by Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani at another seminar.
“Pity the nation that has to silence its writers for speaking their minds. Pity the nation that needs to jail those who ask for justice, while communal killers, mass murderers, corporate scamsters, looters, rapists and those who prey on the poorest of the poor roam free,” she said.
Roy defended her speech, saying, “Some have accused me of giving hate speeches of wanting India to break up. On the contrary, what I say comes from love and pride. It comes from not wanting people to be killed, raped, imprisoned or have their fingernails pulled out in order to force them to say they are Indians. It comes from wanting to live in a society that is striving to be a just one.”
She revived the ghost of Shopian, saying, “I met Shakeel, who is Nilofer’s husband and Asiya’s brother. We sat in a circle of people crazed with grief and anger who have lost hope that they would ever get justice from India and now believe azaadi is their only hope.”
Roy’s fresh statements have created a catch-22 situation for the state government, particularly after chief minister Omar Abdullah said in the legislative assembly sometime ago that J&K acceded to India, did not merge with it.
The Centre has condemned Geelani and Roy’s statements.
“Yes, there is freedom of speech...it can’t violate the patriotic sentiments of the people,” law minister Veerappa Moily said on Tuesday.
On BJP’s allegations that government remained silent on the developments, he said, “Politics cannot be mixed with statements which border sedition.” The BJP also stepped up its offensive against Geelani and Roy, saying they should be arrested.
Asked whether the home ministry has sought the law ministry’s opinion on whether the two can be booked for sedition, Moily said, “I was away for three days...I have not seen the file so far”.
Jammu and Kashmir law minister Ali Mohammad Sagar said Roy was echoing Geelani. “I have heard through the media about her speech. I think she says what Geelani has been saying,” he said.
With the government in a fix, the common Kashmiri and civil society groups have come out in support of the activist-writer.
“If sedition charges have to be pressed, the chief minister should be the first person to be booked. Can they book every Kashmiri who has been on the roads agitating for the past three years? There is nothing controversial in Roy’s speech. We expect every Indian who believes in justice to speak the truth,” Khurram Parvez, programme coordinator of Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, said.
Mehmood Bhat, a local entrepreneur, said, “She is the real intellectual who speaks truth and mirrors the popular sentiment on ground. Otherwise, there are armchair intellectuals who are busy debating the issue in television studios trying to hoodwink common Indians.”
— With inputs from Shabana Ansari and PTI
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