Booker prize-winning novelist Arundhati Roy could face prosecution for 2010 Kashmir speech

Critics question Modi government’s push to prosecute writer for speech made 13 years ago

A top Delhi official has approved the prosecution of celebrated Indian novelist Arundhati Roy and a former Kashmiri professor for speeches they made in 2010 – a move that has been criticised as the latest blow to freedom of expression in the country.

The 61-year-old Booker Prize winner is one of the fiercest critics of prime minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has made her a polarising figure in India.

Delhi lieutenant governor (LG) Vinai Kumar Saxena signed off on the prosecution of Roy and Sheikh Showkat Hussain, a former professor at the Central University of Kashmir, for allegedly “delivering provocative speeches in public”.

A criminal complaint was filed against Ms Roy and others accusing them of sedition in 2010 for the speeches made at a conference organised by a group called the Committee for Release of Political Prisoners under the banner “Azadi (freedom) - The Only Way”.

Sushil Pandit, an activist from Kashmir, filed a police complaint alleging that the participants had discussed and promoted the "separation of Kashmir from India".

The Himalayan region of Kashmir is at the heart of a decades-old dispute between India and Pakistan. Both countries claim the region as theirs, but control only parts of it.

An official from the Delhi LG’s office told The Telegragh that separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Ms Roy “strongly propagated that Kashmir was never the part of India and was forcibly occupied by Armed Forces of India and every possible effort should be made for the independence of the State of J&K from India”. Geelani was present at the meeting.

The official said a prima facie case could be made out against Roy and Dr Hussain under various sections of Indian law “for promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony”.

Two of her co-defendants – Geelani and Delhi University professor Syed Abdul Rahman Geelani – have died in the 13 years since the case was first lodged.

The decision to approve prosecution now was criticised by civil society members and political leaders in the opposition, who have accused the Modi government of increasingly throttling dissent.

"I stand by what I said in 2010 on a speech by Ms Arundhati Roy… There was no justification then to register a case against her on the charge of sedition," said P Chidambaram, a former federal minister and senior member of Indian National Congress.

"There is no justification now to sanction prosecution against her," he added, alleging misuse of the sedition law.

"When speeches are made, however much others may disagree, the state must show tolerance and forbearance. I stand by free speech and against the colonial law of sedition."

I stand by what I said in 2010 on a speech by Ms Arundhati Roy, the well known writer and journalist

There was no justification then to register a case against her on the charge of sedition

There is no justification now to sanction prosecution against her

The law on sedition…

— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) October 10, 2023

“Arundhati Roy has spoken with power, courage and eloquence for justice and truth at every turn of the journey of the Indian republic,” wrote author Harsh Mander on social media X.

“For the government today to turn to a speech made in 2010 to prosecute her reflects its desperation, its fear of her truth-telling. But she will not be silenced.”

Arundhati Roy has spoken with power, courage & eloquence for justice & truth at every turn of the journey of the Indian republic. For govt today to turn to a speech made in 2010 to prosecute her reflects its desperation, its fear of her truth-telling. But she will not be silenced https://t.co/OgyOeZZ2W5

— Harsh Mander (@harsh_mander) October 11, 2023

“If Modi is going after India’s most brilliant and most courageous writer for a speech made a decade ago, it shows the levels of desperation of the regime,” said author Meena Kandasamy.

Roy was last seen attending a journalists' demonstration at the Press Club of India in Delhi on 4 October in protest against the arrest of the editor of the NewsClick news website, Prabir Purkayastha, and one of its administrators following raids at the houses of journalists working for the site.

NewsClick is seen as one of the few remaining media organisations in India that is critical of the Modi administration.

While the authorities said they were doing their job in investigating whether the website received illegal funding from China, NewsClick denied financial misconduct and said its website “does not propagate Chinese propaganda”.

India's Central Breau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday conducted fresh searches at Mr Purkayastha's house in Delhi and filed a complaint for violating the Contribution (Regulation) Act.