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

[shuddha at sarai.net]

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