Arundhati Roy lends support to farmers protest
Item
Title
Arundhati Roy lends support to farmers protest
Description
BATHINDA: In a show of solidarity to their agitation against the Centre’s controversial farm reform laws, novelist Arundhati Roy on Saturday addressed a gathering of BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) members at a protest site at Bahadurgarh. Roy said, “I wanted to come in the initial phase of the protest, but was afraid that if I visited, the farmers would be tagged Naxalites. But the government started calling the protesters ‘atankwadi’ (terrorists) and Naxalites anyway. So I felt it was time to meet the brave people, who have been protesting against all odds.” She said the entire country is watching this historic struggle with a lot of expectation. “We were writing and reading about highhandedness of governments and protests for decades, but this struggle has shown the ground reality and also what is happening in our country.” “Before every election, politicians tell you they are with you, but soon after, they get cozy with the corporate sector. If we look into the history, we see that the government had been providing benefits to some corporates at the cost of people,” she added.
Publisher
The Times of India
Date
2021-01-10
Coverage
India