It is such a tragedy to witness the hounding of Arundhati Roy and the attempt to paint her as anti national because she expresses views from a contextualized position that Indian politicians today choose to wish away. The pretense that her arguments on the issue of Kashmir are not in keeping with the policies that were laid down as the parameters for settling this dispute way back to the initial stages of dialogue that are recorded fact; implies the lack of research on the part of her detractors, and show cases the vindictiveness with which political governance can use muscle tactics to silence the voice of its citizens.
In her article that I read on line in the Hindu They can file a charge posthumously against Jawaharlal Nehru too dated 28the November 2010 she evidences the many instances where the Indian state clearly articulates its positions on allowing for the Kasmiri people to decide on their future. Today we are preferring to blatantly whitewash this recorded historical evidence. What is perhaps most dangerous is the attempt to compromise rational voices such as Arundhati's, by charging them to be in the imprint of radical fundamentalist agendas. If this is what Indian democracy translates to, then I think we are playing very dangerous games where the backlash will rent our secular fabric even more than it has occured since that fateful day of the 6th December 1992, when the Babri Masjid was demolished.
Each time a citizen stands up for what they believe in, the sceptics are out in full force. India prefers to garland the corrupt and boot those who are principled. We beat our chests and scream treason if the truth of situations are laid out, because they cast a shadow upon vested interests; for the coffers of greed must be filled at any cost, and dirty politics must rule!
Stand up for Arundhati Roy. It doesn't matter whether you agree with her politics or not. What is imperative to recognise is that to position a critique that may be considered contentious in no way amounts to being anti national or violating the peace of a nation. She is not a rabble-rouser and to label her as one is outrageous.
Let us please show our maturity and allow discourses on subjects that hold national significance to be conducted with openness and with civility; and not to let it degenerate into a playground of bullying tactics by our government agencies, in order that public opinion can then be monitored by big brother's supervision.
A diminutive woman with a brave heart, Arundhati Roy I am beside you all the way.
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