The Karnataka Komu Souharda Vedike conducted a two-day workshop on “Communalism and the Media” in Mangalore over the weekend, and the star speaker on the concluding day was the Booker Prize winning author and activist, Arundhati Roy. Among other things, she said:
# “It’s all very well for us to talk about the crucible of Hindutva communalism called Gujarat. We talk of bad politicians, of good people, and of the media that is trying to be neutral. But Narendra Modi still won the election. Which means whatever he did was acceptable to a majority of the people of Gujarat. What are we becoming? What kind of monsters are we becoming?
# “As a society if we can tolerate what has happened in Kashmir, if we can tolerate the lies that have been told to us by the Indian press about Kashmir, then our tolerance levels of brutality and the absolute level of human rights violations, has already gone up to to a space where we are a brutal society. We are a people who don’t mind being lied to, as long as it makes us feel comfortable, as long as it satisfies in our own head what the nation should be,what its shape should be, what its ideology should be.
# “What is our role? I have seen 100,000 people march in New York against American troops in Iraq. I have never seen an Indian march against what our troops are doing in Kashmir. There are 125,000 American troops in Iraq; there are 700,000 Indian troops in Kashmir.
# “You have democracy, you have elections, you have an idea of majoritarianism that can easily become fascism… all these have a key to open each of these cupboards. It’s called nationalism. We are living at the moment through an era of unbearably vulgar nationalism… The national flag has become the biggest commercial commodity going, like wrapping paper.”
Also read: ‘India is not a democracy‘
churumuri 
It is the plain case of democracy deficit. As long as the main stream party like the Congress indulges in hypocrisy as evidence in the preset turmoil in Punjab and mount disinformation that BJP is communal and drive them to a corner and spread the canard that anti-hindutva is the index of secualrism Narendra Modis will continue to win.
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OH..ARUNDHATI..YOU ARE SO INNOCENT AND GOOD NATURED THAT YOU DONT EVEN FAIL TO SEE THE DIFFERNCE BETWEEN THE PRESENCE OF INDIA’S SECURITY FORCES IN INDIA’S OWN TERRITORY TRYING TO PRESERVE THE UNITY OF THE NATION…..WHERE AS THE US FORCES IN IRAQ ARE FOR UTERIOR MOTIVES ..WITH EXPANSIONIST DESIGNS..SECONDLY, THE INNOCENT PERSONS LIKE ARUNDHATI SHOULD ALSO GIVE A CALL TO THE PEOPLE TO DEMONSTRATE IN DELHI AGAINST THE INNOCENT KILLINGS OF HINDUS IN KASHMIR..WHY SINGLE OUT THE INDIAN ARMY?WHERE WAS ARUNDHATI AND HER PSEUDO SECULARITS WHEN TERRORISTS BLASTED THE TRAINS IN MUMBAI WHERE THE TARGETS WHERE HINDUS..?JUST STOP HINDUS BAITING…
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HEY..ARUNDHATI..STOP ABUSING GUJARAT AND GUJARATIS…WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN WHEN YOU SAY Narendra Modi still won the election. Which means whatever he did was acceptable to a majority of the people of Gujarat. What are we becoming? What kind of monsters are we becoming?…WHAT IS MEANING OF THIS? THAT MEANS GUJARTIS ARE MONSTERS..SHUT UP..YOU..RA…GUJARATIS ARE MORE CULTURED AND MORE BROADMINED THAN BLOODY HALF WESTERN BLOODED FOOLS..
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Arundhati Roy, the paper tiger, has been trying to roar for the last ten years.
But all I hear is squeaks.
Does Ms. Roy have the guts to squeak against evangelical or proselytising scavengers (Christian/Muslim fundamentalists) looking for easy converts in India’s poorest districts? It takes a lot more courage to criticize Christians and Muslim fundamentalists than it takes to flay the so-called Hindu fundamentalists.
To be fair, Ms. Roy is a smart woman. She’s also a kind woman. Too bad she’s on the loony fringe of leftist politics. She makes no more sense than Narendra Modi’s rightist electoral rhetoric.
Mr. Modi has proved to be an able government leader. Ms. Roy has proved to be an able writer. Mr. Modi is a hero for prosecuting police officers who killed Muslims in fake encounters. Ms. Roy is a heroine for her sharp analyses of Gujarat politics.
The two should stick to their respective strengths. Ms. Roy should stop trying to reignite the fire — Gujarat is peaceful and progressing quickly thanks to its wonderfully enterprising people. Ms. Roy, please stop squeaking, restart writing.
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These causeratis sound like quacks selling miraculous drugs to cure problems of mankind.
The last line explains her whole objective! :)
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This talk is a bogus. I would suggest to remove it from thsi site. Roy doesn’t give any evidenece for the so called Gujarat/Kashmir problems raised. I think this is how the intelectuals speak? Also note that Gujarat is more progressive state comapred to many other(which means people know whom to vote for better than others). If the same democracy which can make Narendra Modi win, can also make Vajapayee loose, what more evidence do you need of our democratic values? Are we really brutal? Our history and present don’t seem to opine this. if you punish a terrorist, is it called brutality? does this line of thinking make any society better or should we allow people to kill each other freely?
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This may be slightly off target, but I would still like to say..Hussain is a great painter. There’s no doubt about it.Being in Indian ,He also loves India and Indians.There should be freedom in expression , as far as arts are concerned.No doubt. But ,Why does Hussain always portray Only Hindu Gods and Goddesses,in the nude.Why doesn’t he try ,for a change, drawing pictures of prophet and other muslim gods ,giving a free reign to his imagination.I haven’t seen or heard, Hussain portraying a Muslim god, in his true artistic style!That would be truly secular, artistic freedom.. etc..Let’s see him do that and be ready to take the ‘Fatwas’ Why are the other artists not asking him about this?Any answers?
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Arundhati Roy is a lady who has even opposed the Nuclear test by India.
Please ignore her…………………………….
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Ms. Arundhati,
Stop bitching about. U know nothing about issues in India. Your self-righteous statements are fashionable in Western countries. U have no popular support in India.
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Please ask Ms Roy about Nandigram. Why this deafening silence from her? I wonder:)
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Arundathi Roy is just another “FOR RENT SPEAKER”: SHAME ON HER SUPPORTERS!
who shared the stage with her? none other than Mr B V Seetharam of Mangalore communal violence/ Jain instigation fame!
Dear Arundhati, remeMber that Mr Modi was never arrested for any crime…whereas, Mr B V See was!!!
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Sometimes (not always) I tend to agree with the far-right notion that liberalism is a mental disorder! Like many far-left liberals, Arundhati also shows the same symptoms. To their credit, people like Arundhati Roy have some valid points. But the problem is – they lack the bigger picture. They try to impose rules on only one side. They want Indian soldiers to consult a human right expert before engaging a shmuck lobbing grenade at them in the streets of Kashmir!! Her heart goes out for a terrorist, not the victims of those throat cutters.
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Arundhati Roy – to me she is a case study in obstinate ‘idealism’ built upon lapse of pragmatic reasoning.
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arundhati forgets that j&k belongs to india, and that iraq does not belong to the usa.
i did not see her raise a hue and cry for the kashmiri pandits. where was she then? ahaa, writing a novel about god and small things.
– s.b.
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E.R. Ramachandran writes:
Why doesn’t he try ,for a change, drawing pictures of prophet and other muslim gods ,giving a free reign to his imagination.
ENDQUOTE.
You want M.F. Hussain killed??
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i agree with her. very frequently democracy is mistaken to be ‘majoritarianism’.
as concerned as she projects herself to be about truth regarding kashmir, the irony is she goes to pakistan and extols their ‘civilization’ all just to make the point that india is a flawed democracy.
as concerened she is about democracy, her take on naxalism is telling.
how come these days she is not writing about narmada?
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Arundhati, You are number one anti-national. 100000 people march in New York but Americans elect George W. Bush in 2004 election once again. Repeated spit of venom on Modi won’t affect him as he has just become ‘Shiva’ of Kaliyuga. He has been demonised again and again unsuccessfully. Why don’t you go to Kashmir, Iraq, or Afghanistan. Settle down there like Mother Teresa did in Calcutta. You will increase your chances of getting a Noble award.
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Heh,
Arundathi Roy has started another timepass mission of protesting Indian army. Instead of praising the sacrifces of our soldiers, she has gone the american way to get public attention. I think she is eying on Nobel peace award this time. Empty head is a devil’s workshop. A ‘Creative’ person without work is a nuisance to the society.
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At least someone is conscience about the present situation about the biased media, the unconstitutional judicial system run by the corporations and politicians and calls itself the supreme daddy which pretty much runs with the help of their puppets, so called the chief justice.
The people in this country are not ignorant which is why there are 22 comments in response to this piece of video. However, they are still blinded by their politicians and the big corporations which help of their massive control over television and radio. They do not understand that communal violence any part of the world are due to personal gain whether it’s financial and for extreme power. There main purpose is to overcome a ruling mogul and for that there means could be anything from using religious excuse to patriotic love.
To implement these plans, a franchise needs to have these 3 situations at the same time. 1Majority of people feeling threatened by a group of individual either due to extreme exposure to exaggerated media reports or extreme build up of hatred from centuries (rascist feelings from centuries due to failure, war, famine). 2An excuse to spark the violence. 3The majority being convinced that the only solution to the problem is to finish the minority.
The incidents in Gujarat 2002 had all three situations – 1media reports and their representatives(MPs) kept pressing that muslims are the roots of their miseries. 2 godhra incident in which muslims were accused of killing all the hindu clerics. 3 muslims and hindus have long created a state of isolation from each other due to differences in believes even they might genetically may or may not look the same the difference in faiths eventually creates hatredness and a desire to prove who is right.
similar incidents in history – Jewish Genecide WWII, 1german leader Adolf Hitler along with its Nazi party created an environment where Jews were made responsible for their miseries, 5 million jews killed in WWII by the government state sponsored killing. 2 germanies misery worsened after WWI after their money value was dropped 1 bread cost 10million deucthmark people dying from hunger. 3. Germans and rest of the world had slowly formed hatred towards jews because most of them were educated and rich and their beliefs also led to the hatred.
Solution to the problems in Gujarat and hatred in general ——-
If I say killer was from tribe A and killed people from tribe B then it shows ONLY that person (not everyone in tribe A) has problems with tribe B. However, in retaliation then everyone from tribe B kills mostly everyone in tribe A then that starts the never ending cyclic of retaliation and violence.
What if I say a person killed some people in the tribe. This shows the dude is crazy and its the person who has problem not his ethnicity or his color, race, faith or anything else.
Take home message :—-
A bomb doesnt kill one class of people, it affects everyone in the community. So someone who plants a bomb in a railway station is not targeting the coolies in the station they are trying to scare everyone in the community, then when in the end of the day some asswipe but smart journalist usually biased says it was planted to target some set of people then dont u think hes a faggot and making stuff up. There tool to rule a place is by first scaring them against some people and then assuring them they will be protected.
So think one time and next time if you wanna know about something then make sure you have multi sources and are not just rely on tv and radio.
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Arundatahi roy – Maneka Gandhi – Medha Patkar – Just a group of attention seeking women. There are bunch more working IN “Des-Videsi Media” Like NDTV and CNN_IBN – Pranoy roy and co and Rajdeep Sardesai and Co. Lots of people pass MSW and M.Journalism to get attention or to make Money.
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Amma, Arundathi come down from the seventh heaven to the earth where food and water is the main concern of many. All your ideological out bursts are of no consequence as long as you fail to grasp the ground reality in India. Common man cares a pin for the philosophy of the party in power. Whether it is a communist party or communalist party as long as they provide him his minimum needs. It is nothing but blasphemy to blast the election verdict which is in favour of the party you dislike.
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Ms. Arundathi must be out of her mind. She is talking about troops in Kashmir who are sacrificing their lives to protect our country. What kind of person she is. Does she have any sympathy for half million Kashmiri Pandits who are brutally terrorised and thrown out of their homes for more than a decade and living in shanty shelters and dying. Maybe she should go and live in Pakistan. Perhaps Musharaff will take her as his spokesperson. She talks about Modi, what about the train victims. 1/3rd of the Godhra Victims are Hindus, does she have any sympathy for them also. Does she ever raise voice of burning alive of 3000 sikhs in Delhi and the perpetrators in the cabinet of current government? Is suffering of one different from another? What about the victims of terrorism blasts which made the number of victims just next to Iraq. She is either lunatic or a paid agent. Nothing else seems plausible.
Regards,
Support Gujarat Progress
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WOW arundhati, u r so knowledgable. U cannot differentiate between Iraq’s relation to US (Foreign land and people) against Kashmir’s relation to India (Own land and people). WOW. Just shut u r mount and please don’t spit out the SHIT that u always do when u open u r mouth.
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I don’t think that you even understand the spirit of Gujarat and Gujaraties. And please don’t even think of using the word MONSTER again for us. Yes we also feel sorry about what happened in 2002 but you should try to understand why it happened. And let me give you a hint it was not a reaction to particular incident but it was collective response of last 50 years. So please don’t see the things through all the media becoz it is not always correct it can be altered for personal gain. And from that i am thinking that since this is a fashion now a days you might be using this issue for personal gain. MAY BE………
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dear arundathi,
please see the reality ok.
you know Gujrath is one of the most developed state in our country.
I leave in Dubai you know how the people here praises Mr.Modi?
but the oppurtunist like you can never be broad minded and can accept the things,we will just igonre you.
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Dear Arundathi,
stop this nonsense and rubbish things.
whatever you teel and say people of India are not fools to listen to your words.
where you were when the inncoent people wrer burnt in sabarmathi express?you do not have any guts to talk about molestation of hindus?
thank your star that you are in India if in any other country your position wasn’t as safe as you were here? why you wont support taslima?any answer
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Where was arundathi roy when somany young people were killed recently in a blast in Hyderabad town. Could someone give me Ms Roy’s email Address or postal address so that I can instil some sense in her head.
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Arundhati Roy should stop bitc…ng about Gujerat and Modi. She is pretending to be an intellectual but her remarks are “for sale at a price”. How can a true intellectual compare US troops in Iraq to INDIAN TROOPS IN OUR OWN LAND WHICH IS UNDER THREAT FROM TERRORISTS.
Arundhati….just shut up. You have lost your chance to be remembered by Indians.
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SOrry to say but ARUNDHATI consider herself more intelligent than more than 5 carore Gujaratis. So she says 5.5 carore guajrtis MOnsters. Please stop insulting GUJARATIS. People like you deteriorated gujarati image now you are condemning GREAT indian army. It is the respected army due to which India is still intact.
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Biased English Media now chanding beacuse they have been sucessful so far making people fool but You cant make people fool for all the time if you dare talk such thing against Gujarat in OPEn on TV See how many pseudo secular stays to backen you
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I live in Australia. Once Ratan Tata told that “You are stupid if you are not in Gujarat” Are you STUPID?
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Those who are writing against Arundhati Roy and abusing her are not being fair. If any one has an objection with what she is saying, then we need to discuss that rather than abusing her. Before saying anything we should at least think. It is not to right to dub everything Ms. Roy writes on the Indian army as false or wrong. Every minute there is sexual harassment, molestation, torture, shoot to kill in the North East and Kashmir. And then there is Gujarat. Shouldn’t it be our responsibility to protect the minorities as a secular state? Hope all the people will think about this at least for a while and not abuse any one.
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>> If any one has an objection with what she is saying, then we need to discuss that rather than abusing her >>
Really ? And how do you support a Booker prize winner calling an electorate as MONSTERS ? Maybe only she has the right to abuse and call names…and that too, without any facts!
>> And then there is Gujarat. Shouldn’t it be our responsibility to protect the minorities as a secular state? >>
No…secularism is not to be confused with the govt protecting it’s people. The govt and we should protect everyone..why only the “minorities” ? And did you see any riots, terrorist activities in Gujarat during the last 5 years..which goes on to show that the people are being protected.. What more do you want ?
>> Before saying anything we should at least think >>
Don’t try to take on a moral high ground by thinking that only you think about before shooting your mouth off. “We” too think before we write.
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When I was wondering and missing this Booker prize winner, suddenly she materialises from no-where to rant and rave about modi and indian soldiers’ atrocities in Kashmir. I guess she was very busy all this time encroaching some more government land in Himachal Pradesh like she did before.
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The following qualities are essential to be considered a left-liberal in India:
1. First and foremost, find fault in anything Hindu and then anything Indian.
2. Utter frequently the phrase ‘terrorists have no religion’ ( This is the biggest lie of the decade). Write articles in Pakistani press about the ‘atrocities’ Indian state is commiting all over India.
3. Find fault with America always. If people die in Iraq owing to shia/sunni clashes do not say so our media. Just blame it on american occupation.
4. At the earliest oppurtunity join hands with all and sundry and condemn israel.
5. Drive away asylum seekers like Taslima and prove yourselves to be holier than the pope.
6. Write paeans about Cuba/China. Never mind millions have been killed by their supreme leaders.
7. Do not comment on anti-indian activities of China in world forms like UN.
8. Trigger frequent strikes in sectors thru your unions where people put in 1 hour of honest work per day, less than 180 days in 365 on jobs where 5 people are employed to do one person’s.
9. Lastly make foolish suggestions for energy security for India thru gas pipeline running thru Pakistan , just because you do not like America !
If you are do atleast 2 or 3 of the above, be assured, you will get called to NDTV/CNN-IBN etc.
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