Arundhati Roy: 'Anyone Who Says Anything Is In Danger'

gothicangel · Jun 6, 2011

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jun/05/arundhati-roy-keep-destabilised-danger

"I know people in India, even the modern young people, understand that here is something that's alive." So why not give up the plush home in Delhi and the media appearances, and return to the forest? "I'd be more than happy to if I had to, but I would be a liability to them in the forest. The battles have to be fought in different ways. The military side is just one part of it. What I do is another part of the battle."

I question her absolutism, her Manichaean view of the world, but I admire her courage. Her home has been pelted with stones; the Indian launch of Broken Republic was interrupted by pro-government demonstrators who stormed the stage; she may be charged with sedition for saying that Kashmiris should be given the right of self-determination. "They are trying to keep me destabilised," she says. Does she feel threatened? "Anybody who says anything is in danger. Hundreds of people are in jail."

Anyone who hasn't read God of Small Things, please do. It's a beautiful book.

Purple Rose · Jun 9, 2011

Can't believe I missed this post. Thanks for this, gothicangel.

I absolutely LOVED that book and believe it to be a truly deserving winner of the Booker Prize that year. I believe her agent in the UK flew to India to meet her, to sign her on right away. Urban legend probably, but a nice story to perpetuate, I think.

Arundhati Roy: 'Anyone Who Says Anything Is In Danger'

gothicangel

Toughen up.

Purple Rose

practical experience, FTW