Arundhati Roy links writing on injustice to political dissent
In an Al Jazeera interview, the author says writing about what moves her is essential and expresses optimism about political change in India.
Author Arundhati Roy says writing about subjects that move her is central to her work, including fiction, non-fiction and political essays focused on social injustice. In an interview published by Al Jazeera on 5 October, she likened not writing about those subjects to “putting myself in prison”.
Roy, who won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her debut novel, is an outspoken critic of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration. She describes the government as disempowering citizens and silencing dissent.
Her political activism has also included taking part in demonstrations against Modi’s policies. The interview material does not identify the demonstrations.
Roy’s critics accuse her of being divisive and anti-India, while supporters describe her as holding the political establishment to account. Those are competing assessments of her public role.
Despite what she characterises as repeated scandals in India, Roy says she remains optimistic that political change is coming. She gives no timeframe for that change.
