Indian novelist Arundhati Roy, winner of the prestigious Booker Prize, could potentially face prosecution for a speech she made in 2010 about the situation in Kashmir, according to reports in the Indian media. The decision to pursue legal action against Roy was reportedly approved by V.K. Saxena, a senior official in the New Delhi administration.
Arundhati Roy, aged 61, is a highly acclaimed author in India. However, her writing and activism, which includes her outspoken criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, has made her a divisive figure within the country.
The criminal complaint against Roy, along with several others, including charges of sedition, has remained dormant within India’s notoriously slow criminal justice system since it was first filed in 2010. However, the recent development suggests that the case will now proceed before the courts.
According to a directive from V.K. Saxena, there is sufficient evidence to support a case against Roy and her co-defendants, based on their speeches at a public function in the Indian capital, as reported by The Hindu newspaper.
The original complaint alleges that Roy and the others advocated for the secession of Kashmir from India in their speeches. Kashmir, a heavily debated topic within India, has been a point of conflict between India and Pakistan, resulting in two wars and numerous skirmishes. The region has seen significant loss of life, with Indian troops, militants, and civilians being killed since an insurgency against Indian rule began in 1989.
In 2010, when Roy’s remarks from the panel discussion became public, her residence in New Delhi was surrounded by protesters. Over the past 13 years, two of her co-defendants have passed away.
Arundhati Roy made history as the first non-expatriate Indian to win the esteemed Booker Prize for her debut novel, “The God of Small Things,” in 1997. Her work often addresses the struggles of the impoverished and marginalized in India, occasionally drawing criticism from the country’s elite.
In recent years, Roy has emerged as one of the most prominent critics of Modi’s government, which has faced accusations from human rights groups and others of targeting activists through criminal prosecution and suppression of free speech. Reporters Without Borders has raised concerns over the state of press freedom in India, with the country’s media freedom ranking dropping from 140 to 161 since 2014, including an 11-place decline within the past year.