Once a writer with potential to become one of the great Indian novelists, but now an activist championing the right causes but from the side on which majority is not. There may be some truth in what she says, may be some sense in what she says, maybe she makes up her mind before doing her research on the subject, and maybe she just sees one side, of the poor victims of the state and politics.
My aim is not to judge her, as so many others are already doing that, but to find something useful in her. Though my personal prejudiced opinion on her actions is that she is politically naïve, she loses the sight of the issue and moreover just focuses on problems and makes hoopla about them without proposing any solution. In my humble opinion she should advocate the cause for the victims (Naxalites and Kashmiri people) but all the while maintaining the patriotism. In strict philosophical sense I don’t believe in state nations but as for the pragmatic philosophy I do. The state nations concept does brings about a bit of order for most of the people, though at some expense.
AR (Arundhati Roy) born in Meghalaya, her blood, a mixture of a Keralite & a Bengali, her early years are produce of hammering against the anvil of Syrian Christian dogmatism and of the aegis of her independent, eccentric mother! Her adolescence years spent in struggle to establish herself! As a grown up struggled to find a place in world at large! From 30s a vocal critic of social inequality and morality! Since “God of all things” she is a critic of governments & corporations, and a flag bearer of the victims.
I think that AR focuses only on one aspect of the problem, which she doesn’t understand or should I say she can’t define. She just focuses on the victims rather than on the solutions! She is not different from the mass public, who are as gullible as she is. She is just the mass public personified. She doesn’t have the sense of Nationalism as most of the general public, for whom the main concern is not that India will get nuclear power or not, but concern is whether they’ll get food today or not .
AR is like a “mass public” with awesome literary prowess, so that few people will hear them! She is a brilliant writer who can stir great thoughts but those thoughts can’t be put into action! She can write good poignant arguments to tackle “power” but at the expense of generating more poignant stories, of people who are little more privileged then whom AR supports! E.g. shutting down big corporations! Its sounds great to hear! Yeah these big machines are generating just profits at the expense of other poorer and powerless nations, but shutting them down is not the correct solution. Solution lies in making them accountable and responsible!
When she supports the separatist movements I feel that she is as gullible as another common man! She doesn’t see the big picture that separation can never be a solution to Kashmir! She says that people are fighting for their right to live a dignified life, I totally agree with her! But who says that separation will resolve the situation! It never has and it never will. Because the problem is not with the idea of “separation”, but it’s with the people with hidden motives who preach these ideas, Problem is not with the idea of corporations, but it’s with few people who hold the profits, problem is not with the idea of nation state, but it’s with people who manage these nation states.
Idea with which I agree on with her is the idea of “Non violence” doesn’t work in today’s world, where nations wait till most of the people lose their lives or run out of patience. But then it doesn’t mean that people pick up arms and start killing! Because to get heard you kill people who are just like you! And any ways you are not getting to the root of the problem, which I mentioned in last paragraph.
Issue is that there is no quick fix solution to these “problems”. A solution to these problems has to be a long term one. It should involve people who understand the problem and who understand the concept of nation state. It should have a stink of the collective frustration to bring about a change by people who can bring the change!
It should impact the root of the problem (Few individuals who take advantage of the system at common man’s expense) by impacting the conscience of the people who understand the concept of nation state.
I don’t agree with Arundhati Roy for whatever she says! But I do thank her for impacting my conscience for once!
2 comments:
Nice one Janit - an effort to find out something useful in her. having said that, with AR's comments on 26/11, the Batla House encounter and Kashmiri seperartism, I have begun to sense a nexus between the seperatists(read as terrorists) and the Maoists. The intelligentsia like AR is camouflaging its ulterior motive of overthrowing the democratic set up for power by speaking about the problems of underdeveloped. I recently read her article in Outlook about Vedanata mining issue and found it to full of style but little substance.
I didn't think on those lines.. that there can be nexus between seperatist and naxalites.. but definately she is way to gulliable .. and yeah true even I read those articles, apart from decribing the situation and the journey, she didn't write anything else.. I feel she is just being used by these people to get the spotlight.. and to bring about more controversy.. at the end watever it is.. smthing needs to be done!
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