THRISSUR, India: Indian writer and activist Arundhati Roy Sunday came hard on Prime Minister Narendra Modi who she said was busy posting on social media that he had Appam for dinner at a time when the country was burning and women were being paraded naked.
Last evening, I had a wonderful meeting with NDA MPs from Southern India, followed by a great dinner in which a variety of South Indian dishes were served including Paniyaram, Appam, Vegetable Korma, Pulihora, Pappu Charu, Adai Aviyal and more. pic.twitter.com/bTHsG8uVg0
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 3, 2023
She believed that Manipur was witnessing a kind of ethnic cleansing. Roy, the Booker Prize-winning author was speaking after receiving the Navamalayali Cultural Prize at the Kerala Sahita Akademi Hall in Thrissur.
“Manipur is witnessing a kind of ethnic cleansing. The Centre is complicit, the State is partisan and security forces are split. Manipur issue is not isolated,” she viewed.
“We live in a time where women are justifying rape and telling men to rape other women. They have gone psychotic. Police are handing over women to a mob to get raped. In Haryana, men accused for burning two Muslim men alive are leading religious processions.”
“Kerala, which can be described as a miracle in terms of political consciousness and intellectual growth, has more responsibilities at hand. Kerala should send a study team to Manipur and provide help. If you don’t do anything now, your future generations will be ashamed of you,” Roy said.
She further said that awards were futile if writers can’t bring about change in society through their literary work. She also demanded the release of former Maoist and human rights activist GROW Vasu at the event.
