Arundhati Roy in Trouble

Chhattisgarh police are investigating, and considering, charges against activist and author Arundhati Roy for her latest essay "Walking With the Comrades," which documents what she learned while studying and interviewing the Maoist guerrillas in India. Legal action would be taken against Roy under the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act-2005 (CSPSA).

Vishwajit Mitra has lodged a complaint at the Telibanda police station in Raipur, pointing out that the contents and photographs of Arundhati Roy’s essay counted as an offence under the CSPSA.

"We are examining it to find out whether any offence has been committed,” the police told the media.

“This is clearly an attempt to cordon off the theatre of war and choke the flow of critical information coming out of the forests,” said Ms. Roy in a statement.

“There is very little news and no record of adivasis who have been killed [by Maoists] in remote forest villages or of the situation which can be described as a State of Emergency.”

Refuting charges that her article glorified the Maoist rebels, she called her essay “a writer's account of a journey behind the ‘battle lines' of Operation Greenhunt.” “I think it is crucial for the people of the country to know what is going on, on the other side, in order to make informed decisions,” Roy said.

The CSPSA has beed described as using language that is too broad, making the state able to arrest anyone on charges that violate the Act.

“The loose and broad language used to define and criminalise support for an unlawful organisation can, and has been misused in the past,” said Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhusan. “Under the Act, even a lawyer representing a Maoist in court or a doctor treating a wounded Maoist can be prosecuted.”

Human Rights activist Dr Binayak Sen was in jail for nearly two years under the same law for which action has been demanded against Arundhati Roy. Dr Sen was arrested on the charges of having links with the Maoists.

In the world's fastest growing supposed "democracy" journalists can be arrested and charged for simply publishing what they experienced and their opinions. India is not a democracy at all then! Hands off Roy and all journalists/writers! An injury to one is an injury to all!