[Reader-list] Statement by Arundhati Roy in Support of Taslima Nasrin

[Aditya Raj Kaul]

Dear Asit,

   Wait a little my friend...you have already gone too far. I never put my
reaction here on Arundhati Roy; I merely pasted a link for the knowledge of
the Reader's List. Hope you understand that well. And, it would be great if
discussions and comments are written in a more civilised manner. Moreover, I
personally don't think that I should care to have an opinion on such fake
people like Arundhati herself.

As you don't have an iota of knowledge on terrorist Yasin Malik and his
doings; you shift towards blabberings against Advani/Modi. Wake up dear.
Learn to differentiate.

God Bless

Aditya Raj Kaul



On 2/16/08, Asit asitreds <asitredsalute at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> mr aditya rajs reaction to arundhati roy is sick this shows the days to
> come when minories will be hounded out writers gaggled dalits tortured more
> and the list can be horrifieng and long
> now his comment on terrorism if that word has any negetive conotation
> george bush is the biggest terrorist in the world having massacred millions
> in iraq  the zionist israli state and the nda govt was shameless in
> proclaiming thier loyalty to their imperialst masters and the zionists who
> is a biggerterrorist then modi who was instumental in the massacre of
> thousands of minories in gujrat arundhati roy makes open the facade of our
> great free democracy where dissenters are persecuted who is a publicity
> seeker arundhati or advani who in his bloody rath yatra communalisedthe
> whole country ushering in fascim in india
> asit
>
> On Feb 16, 2008 6:54 AM, Aditya Raj Kaul <kauladityaraj at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Though in reality - Ms. Arundhati "PUBLICITY-SEEKING Roy advocates
> > Terrorism. I think readers would find interesting to read this Acron
> > piece
> > at -
> >
> > http://acorn.nationalinterest.in/2005/03/19/arundhati-roy-advocates-terrorism/
> >
> > Thanks
> > Aditya Raj Kaul
> > New Delhi
> >
> >
> > On 2/16/08, Shuddhabrata Sengupta <shuddha at sarai.net> wrote:
> > >
> > > Dear All,
> > >
> > > As there has been considerable discussion on the Taslima Nasrin issue
> > > on this list, I am forwarding on to the list a statement written and
> > > read by the writer Arundhati Roy, in support of Taslima Nasrin, and
> > > in support of the many others (journalists, doctors, and others) in
> > > conditions of detention in India currently.
> > >
> > > I hope that this will be of interest to some of you on this list,
> > >
> > > regards
> > >
> > > Shuddha
> > >
> > > -----------------------------------
> > > ARUNDHATI ROY' S STATEMENT AT A PRESS CONFERENCE CALLED IN SUPPORT OF
> > > TASLIMA NASRIN'S RIGHT TO STAY IN INDIA IN CONDITIONS OF LIBERTY
> > >
> > > February 13, 2008, Press Club of India, New Delhi, India
> > >
> > > I would like to caution us all against looking at this issue, in
> > > particular the issue of Taslima Nasrin, through the single lens of a
> > > battle between religious fundamentalism and secular liberalism.
> > > Taslima Nasrin herself sometimes contributes to that view. On her
> > > website, she says: "Humankind is facing an uncertain future…. In
> > > particular, the conflict is between two different ideas, secularism
> > > and fundamentalism…. To me, this conflict is basically between
> > > modern, rational, logical thinking and irrational, blind faith.…. It
> > > is a conflict between the future and the past, between innovation and
> > > tradition, between those who value freedom and those who do not."
> > >
> > > How strange it is then, that it was the West Bengal Government — led
> > > by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), a party that sees itself
> > > as the vanguard of secularism, modern, logical, and rational thinking
> > > — that banned Nasrin's autobiographical novel Dwikhandita, not once,
> > > but twice. Twice the ban was successfully challenged in the Calcutta
> > > High Court. The book was published, and for four years people in
> > > Bengal read it and Taslima Nasrin lived in Calcutta. And there the
> > > matter remained — without incident.
> > > Then Nandigram happened. Muslims and Dalits bore the brunt of the
> > > government's attack. The CPI(M) began to worry about losing the
> > > "Muslim vote." So it played the Taslima card. A report by Mohammed
> > > Safi Samsi in the Indian Express (December 1, 2007) tells the story.
> > > The government launched its operation to "recapture" Nandigram at
> > > the end of October 2007:
> > >
> > > On November 1, Path Sanket a CPI(M) magazine published an anonymous
> > > letter supporting Taslima Nasrin, adding some gratuitous insults of
> > > its own against Prophet Mohammed. On the November 8, the government
> > > banned the magazine and a member of the editorial team called
> > > printing the letter a "historic blunder." But, of course, vernacular
> > > newspapers republished the letter. Photocopies of the letter were
> > > then distributed in Muslim-dominated localities.
> > >
> > > On November 21 — a week after more than 60,000 people marched on the
> > > streets protesting the government's actions in Nandigram — the little-
> > > known All India Minority Forum organized a protest that then
> > > "erupted" in violence. The army was called in. The government
> > > deported Taslima Nasrin from West Bengal.
> > >
> > > And today, on February 13, we are all gathered here to discuss "free
> > > speech." Not the recapturing of Nandigram or the continuing
> > > terrorizing, humiliation, and rape of the people who live there. It
> > > seems pretty clear that the threat to free speech comes as much from
> > > chemical hubs and iron ore mines — and from the project of land grab,
> > > enclosure, and mass displacement — as it does from religious
> > > fundamentalism. To not see this is to fall into a trap that has been
> > > cleverly laid for us.Religious fundamentalists, especially those from
> > > minority communities, are often inadvertently playing out a script
> > > that has been written for them. Their outrage, genuine though it may
> > > be, has become a dependable, predictable, and an extremely useful
> > > political device to further the agendas of others.
> > >
> > > The principle of free speech and expression has to negotiate many,
> > > many fundamentalisms. Religious fundamentalism, ultranationalist
> > > fundamentalism, market fundamentalism, among others. Sometimes they
> > > are intertwined in the strangest ways.
> > >
> > > Liberals often make the mistake of believing that free speech is a
> > > fundamental right given to us by the Indian constitution — and that
> > > when it is curbed either by the state or by vigilante militias and
> > > thugs, it is because the the constitution is being subverted. This is
> > > not true. Free speech is not our constitutional right. It is a
> > > contained right, beset with caveats, caveats that are always used by
> > > the powerful to control and dominate those who are powerless.
> > >
> > > Now, we have a slew of new laws that make not just free speech but
> > > freedom itself in India a pathetic joke, a distant dream. There is
> > > the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), which incorporates
> > > some of the worst provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act
> > > (POTA) and Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act
> > > (TADA). There is the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act, the
> > > Madhya Pradesh Control of Organized Crime Act, and the utterly
> > > draconian Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act (CSPSA). Some of
> > > these laws contain provisions whose sole purpose seems to be to
> > > criminalize everybody and then leave the government free to decide at
> > > leisure whom to imprison. Under the CSPSA and the UAPA, for example,
> > > the government is free to arbitrarily ban any organization without
> > > giving any specific reason for placing the ban.
> > >
> > > Here is how the CSPA defines an organization: " 'Organization' means
> > > any combination, body or group of persons whether known by any
> > > distinctive name or not and whether registered under any relevant law
> > > or not and whether governed by any written constitution or not."
> > >
> > > Remember, the vaguer the provisions in the law, the wider the net it
> > > casts, the greater the threat to civil and democratic rights.
> > >
> > > Here is how the CSPSA defines an "unlawful activity": "Any action
> > > taken by such [banned] individual or organization whether by
> > > committing an act or by words either spoken or written or by signs or
> > > by visible representation or otherwise."
> > >
> > > And then there are some sub-clauses that widen the net: these are -
> > >
> > > "(i)     which constitutes a danger or menace to public order, peace
> > > or tranquility
> > > (iii)   which interferes or tends to interfere with maintenance of
> > > public order
> > > And, remarkably
> > > (vi)   of encouraging or preaching disobedience to established law
> > > and its institutions."
> > >
> > > In Section 8(5) it says that "Whoever commits or abets or attempts to
> > > commit or abet or plans to commit any unlawful activity shall be
> > > punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven
> > years."
> > >
> > > So now they have mind readers in the Chattisgarh government, as well
> > > as seers.
> > >
> > > How can there be even the pretense of free speech or freedom under
> > > laws like these? All over the country, not just journalists and
> > > writers, but anybody who disagrees with the government's plans is
> > > being arrested, tortured, and imprisoned. Sometimes murdered.
> > >
> > > Govind Kutty, the editor of People's March, a publication banned for
> > > being sympathetic to Maoist ideology, has been arrested and
> > > imprisoned. The Maoists have as much right to the freedom of
> > > expression, as much right to place their ideology — however abhorrent
> > > the government or anybody else may believe it to be — in the public
> > > domain, in the so-called marketplace of ideas as anybody else does.
> > >
> > > I believe that the ban on People's March should be lifted immediately
> > > and its editor unconditionally released.
> > >
> > > Finally, I would like to say that the battle for free speech must not
> > > turn into a battle that limits itself to the freedom of writers,
> > > journalists, and artists alone. We are not the only ones who deserve
> > > this right. A friend from Chattisgarh recently told me of a doctor
> > > who had been arrested because a prescription of his had been found in
> > > some "Naxalite kit," whatever that means.
> > >
> > > In Chattisgarh, 644 villages have been evacuated of their
> > > inhabitants. That's more than 300,000 people — displacement on a mass
> > > scale, which is eventually intended to clear space for corporate
> > > mining interests.
> > >
> > > Fifty thousand people have been moved into police camps and have
> > > become recruits for the dreaded Salwa Judum (the supposedly anti
> > > Maoist"people's militia" created and funded by the state government).
> > > Tens of thousands of people have fled to neighboring states to escape
> > > the horror. Nobody is allowed to go back to their villages or to
> > > cultivate their land. What is freedom of expression for a farmer? The
> > > buzz in town is that a new law is on the anvil which says that if
> > > farmland has not been cultivated for two years, it can be diverted
> > > for non-agricultural purposes.
> > >
> > > Every form of resistance, peaceful or otherwise, is being shut down
> > > by the state. Of all the cases on the anvil, the goldfish in a bowl,
> > > the dire, menacing warning to us all and to anybody who may be
> > > entertaining the idea "of encouraging or preaching disobedience to
> > > established law and its institutions" is the continued imprisonment
> > > of Dr. Binayak Sen under false charges, underpinned by blatantly
> > > fabricated evidence.
> > >
> > > Dr. Binayak Sen, who has worked as a civil rights activist with the
> > > People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and a doctor in the area
> > > for more than 30 years, was arrested last May, charged under the
> > > CSPSA, the UAPA, and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He has been in
> > > prison for eight months, denied bail even by the Supreme Court.
> > >
> > > By imprisoning someone like Binayak Sen the Government is trying to
> > > close out the option of peaceful resistance, of democratic space. It
> > > is creating a polarization along the lines of the Bush Doctrine — "If
> > > you are not with us, you are with the terrorists" — in which people
> > > only have the choice between succumbing to displacement and
> > > destitution or resisting by going underground and taking up arms.
> > > This is the beginning of either civil war or the annihilation of the
> > > poor. Once that genie is out of the bottle, it won't go back. There
> > > are reports that the Chhattisgarh state government has asked for 70
> > > battalions of paramilitary forces beyond the 17 battalions that are
> > > already there. A fourfold increase. I fear the worst.
> > >
> > > And so, from this platform I would like to ask for the granting of
> > > citizenship to Taslima Nasrin, for the immediate and unconditional
> > > release of Binayak Sen, Govind Kutty, and the other journalists whose
> > > names have been mentioned at this press conference, experienced
> > > journalists and peaceful activists who understand that reporting the
> > > realities of these situations is the only hope of righting this ship
> > > that is tilting dangerously and about to tip over. If it does tip
> > > over, everybody will suffer, the poor definitely, but the rich too.
> > > There will be no hiding place. I urge those present here to pay keen
> > > attention to the specter that is looming before us. And to begin a
> > > campaign demanding the repeal of these very frightening new laws that
> > > do not merely threaten free speech, but freedom itself.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > _________________________________________
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