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

Mon Nov 1 09:25:59 IST 2010

But was there an attack?Is demonstrating outside her house the same as
attacking her.The Hindu reported that a mob attacked her and broke one
flower pot.
If Maoists are Gandhians with Guns and Geelani's demand and methods are
legitimate how does one construe a hundred odd women demonstrating(mind you
not throwing stones)...
If this was an attack how does one describe burning of my house by the
azaadi seekers...
In the hall itself where Shuddha was on the podium a boy's shirt was torn
and he was mandhandled by the same people who want right of free
speech,simply because he disagreed and maybe shouted too.Is that attack or
isnt that an attack?

On Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 9:15 AM, Samvit <samvitr at gmail.com> wrote:

> A classic example of *pot calling the kettle black*. How conveniently you
> abuse and slot others. If someone is attacking Roy's house I think it is
> their way of expression. Roy doesn't hold a monopoly on "right to
> expression" and neither does she decide where to draw the line. She should
> be knowing all this very well since she keeps company of known terrorists
> of
> the ilk that were seen in Delhi with her. Why do you feel so meek now that
> you have to be sladerous?? using words like.....hooligans, obsene....
>
> Although I wish her good health and safety so that she can continue
> gallavanting from place to place, topic to topic but then there are
> millions
> out there who get inspired by her and want to teach her some "expression".
> Thugs like her understand the language of thugs, perhaps.
>
>
> On Sun, Oct 31, 2010 at 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
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >
> > SOMETHING 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 BJP’s Mahila Morcha (Women’s 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 ‘scene’ 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 “fix” 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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>
>
>
>
> --
> Samvit Rawal
> 9422037853
> -----------------------------------------------------------
> To err is human; to forgive, infrequent.
>  - Franklin P. Adams
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-- 
Rashneek Kher
http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com
http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.com