Allies of the Indian Prime Minister have allowed the Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy to be prosecuted under a draconian anti-terrorism statute for remarks she made at an event 14 years ago, in a move that has attracted widespread criticism (Literary Hub, New York Times, Times).
Vinai Kumar Saxena, the lieutenant governor of Delhi and a member of Narendra Modi’s ruling BJP party, has now approved the prosecution of the renowned author under the country’s Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967.
Roy – who became India’s first citizen to win the prestigious Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel The God of Small Things – along with Sheikh Showkat Hussain, a former professor at the Central University of Kashmir, has been charged with offences related to “provocative speech” and “the promotion of enmity between different groups”.
The original complaint was brought by a right-wing Kashmiri Hindu activist against speakers at a conference in 2010 titled “Freedom — the Only Way”. The activist claimed that Roy’s speech, and a number of others, “jeopardized public peace and security” by advocating for the separation of Kashmir from India.
During her conference speech, Roy had recalled an incident where she was questioned over her opinion on the status of Kashmir by a persistent journalist, and told the audience: “So, I said, look, Kashmir has never been an integral part of India. However aggressively and however often you want to ask me that, even the Indian government has accepted that it is not an integral part of India.”
Kashmir, an Indian-administered territory home to a Muslim majority, is a hugely controversial topic as India and Pakistan both claim its land in its entirety – though as per Article 370 in the Indian constitution, it operated as a semi-autonomous state before 2019, when Modi’s government revoked this status.
In her 2020 essay collection, Azadi: Freedom, Fascism, Fiction, Roy documented the growing resistance to Indian rule following that decision.
Roy is a longstanding critique of Modi, occasionally penning articles criticising the prime minister and his policies. Her global literary success ensures her views attract widespread attention, particularly in foreign media. For BJP supporters this is infuriating, particularly when they are picked up by foreign media.
Speaking to the Times, human right lawyer Colin Gonsalves branded the decision to prosecute Roy as “crazy”, arguing that the law in question was supposed to apply to violent acts and efforts to overthrow the state. “Since none of these things happened, it seems clear that Roy is being victimised for something she wrote,” he said. “I don’t think any prosecution will succeed beyond the very first step in a court of law. The government will just be embarrassed and have to withdraw the case.”
During an appearance on Democracy Now, the author and journalist Siddhartha Deb also criticised the “convoluted” case against Roy. “It’s hard to say where it begins and where it ends – and that’s the point,” she said. “The process is the punishment.”
The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 is by far India’s most controversial and draconian law. It is exceedingly difficult for anyone arrested under it to get bail, and reverses the principle of innocent until proven guilty by shifting the burden of proof onto the accused. It is they who have to prove their innocence, not the prosecution that has to prove their guilt.
Modi’s critics have long accused him of using the law to silence criticism and curb free speech.
Following the imposition of numerous legal sanctions and the prosecution of active investigations against leading opponents of Narendra Modi’s government last year, critics and rights groups accused India’s ruling BJP party of using law enforcement agencies to freeze the bank accounts of the main opposition party Congress just weeks before the announcement of national elections.
