Arundhati Roy in India: An oxymoron of democracy

A woman gets prosecuted for a speech she made 14 years ago. This appears to be some compelling material plucked from a political novel exploring the themes of totalitarianism. However, this is precisely the current narrative of the largest democracy in the world.

PREMIUM

The state has ensnared the 1997 Booker Prize-winning author and activist Arundhati Roy under India's Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA, bringing the state of free speech in India into a sharp focus on the international podium.

The Statement of the Case

In her speech at the 'Azadi - The Only Way Ahead; Convention on Kashmir' conference at the LTG auditorium, New Delhi, 21st October 2010, Roy presented her words on the political status of Kashmir. "Kashmir has never been an integral part of India. However aggressively and however often you want to ask me that, even the Indian government has accepted in the U.N. that it's not an integral part of India," affirmed Roy on a boisterous evening.

The view scintillated acute contentions and was deemed seditious by many in the Indian establishment. This statement and others made at the conference led to a First Information Report (FIR) being filed against her and several co-defendants.

In 2024, about 14 years later, VK Saxena, the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and a member of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), sanctioned the prosecution of Roy under the UAPA. This anti-terror law, which was amended in 2019, allows authorities to detain individuals for up to 180 days without formal charges and can label individuals as terrorists even without a proven connection to a designated terrorist group.

Roy: An Incessant Figure of Dissent

In 1997, when her debut novel 'The God of Small Things' won the Booker Prize, the global focus pivoted to Roy. The otherworldly success of her political fiction novel made her a literary touchstone for many and gained international fame.

Since then, Roy has been a flag waver of dissent in the country. She has been an unrelenting critic of the Modi administration, particularly its Hindu nationalist agenda and its impact on India's secular and democratic fabric. She has described India's political trajectory under Modi as a descent into fascism, criticising policies that she argues marginalize minorities and erode civil liberties.

Her essay, 'The Greater Common Good,' which critiqued the Narmada Dam project, is a seminal work on environmental activism in India. One of the most contentious issues Roy has addressed is the political status of Kashmir. Her critical stance on India's policies in the region and her support for Kashmiri self-determination have made her a polarizing figure. Her second novel, 'The Ministry of Utmost Happiness', also touches on the very issue of Kashmir.

Her outspoken nature and willingness to encounter powerful entities have solidified her status as a leading dissenter. Often delivering lectures and speeches critiquing the Indian government on international stages, Roy has frequently been termed 'anti-nationalist'.

An Annihilation of Free Speech

Compartmentalising Roy's speech into black or white in itself remains a grey area. But this gruesome episode of Roy's abrupt prosecution for a speech she delivered 14 years ago has conjured a broader moral dialogue on the freedom of speech in India.

Roy's formidable voice of dissent persistently confronted the status quo with resistance — a notion imperative to a stable democracy. Critics argue that prosecutions like that of Roy's are intended to stifle dissent and create a climate of fear among intellectuals and activists.

The prosecution of intellectuals for their speech sets a concerning precedent. In addition, India's sinking rank of 159 out of 180 in Reporters Without Borders does not offer a merry landscape of freedom of expression in the country. It suggests a narrowing space for dialogue and debate in a democracy that prides itself on pluralism and freedom of thought. The timing of this prosecution, coming more than a decade after the speech in question, raises questions about the motivations behind it and whether it is being leveraged as a tool to suppress dissent.

It is particularly interesting to note that the prosecution orders came immediately after Modi's ascent to his third term. The conjecture is that the prosecution of Modi's perpetual critic, Roy, is the newly re-elected government's way to establish its sovereignty after a feeble victory in the national elections.

Denouncing the BJP's governance as fascist, politician Mahua Moitra took to X, saying, "If by prosecuting Arundhati Roy under UAPA(,) BJP (is) trying to prove they're back, well they're not. And they'll never be back the same way they were. This kind of fascism is exactly what Indians have voted against."

The Popular Opinion: Divided

Roy's prosecution orders have split the mainstream thought. Those who consider her remarks 'anti-national' applaud the orders.

Journalist Arnab Goswami, known for his skewness towards the state, said on record, “I'm very happy that Arundhati Roy, that terrorist supporter, that Maoist sympathiser, what I call a Gucci separatist, who made speaking against India a career option when her books failed, is going to be prosecuted after 14 years.”

On the contrary, more than 200 activists, journalists and academics have signed an open letter urging the state to reverse the orders. "We, the concerned citizens of India, deplore this action and appeal to the government and the democratic forces in the country to ensure that no infringement of the fundamental right to freely and fearlessly express views on any subject takes place in our nation," the letter read.

The public opinion on the matter is clearly divided. Eventually, this discourse on Roy's prosecution morphs into a reiteration of the chicken-and-egg debate on the absoluteness of freedom of speech.

As Roy's fate rests in the hands of the state, the largest democracy seems to spiral down a helix of the restricted freedom paradox, and the world, certainly, is watching.

Suvrat Arora is an independent writer based in Bengaluru, India. His words have appeared in Al Jazeera, Vogue India, The Hindu, Hindustan Times, and elsewhere. Areas of his interest include society, literature, art, culture, books and technology. The views expressed are personal