[Reader-list] Statement by Arundhati Roy on the Attack on her Residence

[SJabbar]

I am truly horrified by these attacks.  Very, very sorry to hear that this
happened. Have no words that can adequately express my disgust.


On 31/10/10 10:31 PM, "shuddha at sarai.net" <shuddha at sarai.net> wrote:

> Dear all, 

the disgusting and obscene attacks on Arundhati Roy in sections of
> the media
and even, unfortunately on a forum like this one by right wing
> hooligans
(including some on this list) is now being complemented by attacks
> and
vandalism at her residence, in the full glare of the media. It is not Ms.
> Roy
who seeks out media coverage, it is the thugs who attack her who
> pre-arrange to
have television OB vans in place while they attempt to ransack
> her residence. 

Those interested may read the statement below by Arundhati
> Roy in response to
the most recent attack,

best,
> 

Shuddha
---------------------------------------------------------------


SO
> METHING FOR THE MEDIA TO THINK ABOUT

 A mob of about a hundred people arrived
> at my house at 11 this morning (Sunday
October 31st 2010.) They broke through
> the gate and vandalized property. They
shouted slogans against me for my views
> on K...ashmir, and threatened to teach
me a lesson. The OB Vans of NDTV, Times
> Now and News 24 were already in place
ostensibly to cover the event live. TV
> reports say that the mob consisted
largely of members of the BJP¹s Mahila
> Morcha (Women¹s wing). After they
left, the police advised us to let them know
> if in future we saw any OB vans
hanging around the neighborhood because they
> said that was an indication that a
mob was on its way. In June this year,
> after a false report in the papers by
Press Trust of India (PTI) two men on
> motorcycles tried to stone the windows of
my home. They too were accompanied
> by TV cameramen. 

What is the nature of the agreement between these sections
> of the media and
mobs and criminals in search of spectacle? Does the media
> which positions
itself at the Œscene¹ in advance have a guarantee that the
> attacks and
demonstrations will be non-violent? What happens if there is
> criminal trespass
(as there was today) or even something worse? Does the media
> then become
accessory to the crime? This question is important, given that
> some TV channels
and newspapers are in the process of brazenly inciting mob
> anger against me. In
the race for sensationalism the line between reporting
> news and manufacturing
news is becoming blurred. So what if a few people have
> to be sacrificed at the
altar of TRP ratings? The Government has indicated
> that it does not intend to
go ahead with the charges of sedition against me
> and the other speakers at a
recent seminar on Azadi for Kashmir. 

So the task
> of punishing me for my views seems to have been taken on by right
wing storm
> troopers. The Bajrang Dal and the RSS have openly announced that
they are
> going to ³fix² me with all the means at their disposal including
filing cases
> against me all over the country. The whole country has seen what
they are
> capable of doing, the extent to which they are capable of going. So,
while the
> Government is showing a degree of maturity, are sections of the media
and the
> infrastructure of democracy being rented out to those who believe in
> mob
justice? I can understand that the BJP's Mahila Morcha is using me to
> distract
attention the from the senior RSS activist Indresh Kumar who has
> recently been
named in the CBI charge-sheet for the bomb blast in Ajmer Sharif
> in which
several people were killed and many injured. But why are sections of
> the
mainstream media doing the same? Is a writer with unpopular views
> more
dangerous than a suspect in a bomb blast? Or is it a question of
> ideological
alignment? 

Arundhati Roy 
October 31st
> 2010


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