Noted writer and activist Arundhati Roy on Monday said discussion about “real issues” plaguing Indian society was missing from the main political discourse of the country.
Speaking to reporters at a ‘Meet-the-press’ programme at the Nagpur Press Club, the Booker prize winning author said, “The communication gap between the people who are being ruled and the people who are ruling them is increasing. Six per cent people are dominating the Indian society in every sphere. There is a structural problem in distribution of wealth in our country. We need to address these fundamental issues first.”
Stressing on the need to give voice to the downtrodden, Ms. Roy feared that the anti-Maoist operations could intensify in the Maoist-affected areas of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand if Narendra Modi became Prime Minister.
“People are being pitted against people, tribal people are being pitted against tribals. Almost 99 per cent Maoists are tribal people and almost everyone in Salwa Judum was a tribal. What do we achieve by this?” asked Ms. Roy while denying that she supported Maoists.
On some of the people’s movements and activists taking the plunge into electoral politics, Ms. Roy expressed “scepticism” and said that she did not think corruption was the core issue for any people's movements.
“Caste is the fundamental breed of Indian society, but the issue of caste gets submerged once the elections are over,” said Ms. Roy when asked about her recently published book related on caste.
