After Criticism, Arundhati Roy Apologises For Pakistan Army Comment; Blames ‘Hindu Nationalists’ For Outrage
After a video clip garnered sharp criticism where Arundhati Roy praises Pakistan for never using its Army against “own people the way India has”, the author was forced to apologise on Wednesday (29 August).
In a 2011 video clip, Roy can be seen speaking at a panel surfaced on social media. She says that India had deployed its Army in different regions whereas “…Pakistan has not deployed its army against its people the way India has”.
The video sparked criticism with Twitter users in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh making the hashtag #ArundhatiRoy trend on Twitter.
Balochistan Liberation Front chief criticised Arundhati Roy’s comment. Several Bangladeshis, victim of 1971 genocide by Pakistan Army also criticised her. Many of her admirers in Pakistan fighting for minority rights, also raised trouble with her remark.
Roy released a statement apologising for her comment, reports The Print.
“We all, at some point in our lives, might inadvertently say something thoughtless or stupid,” she says, and adds, “It is a matter of enormous consequence and I apologise for any momentary confusion the clip may have caused.”
Roy further clarifies that not her words at a “free-wheeling talk” but her writings are far more important in representing what she believes.
She goes on to provide excerpts from her two novels to justify her claim that her “views on what the Government of Pakistan is doing in Balochistan and the genocide that the Pakistan Army committed in Bangladesh have never been ambiguous”.
The author accused “Hindu nationalists” of digging up and generating outrage over the nine-year-old video clip.
“I do not believe that the States of India, Pakistan or Bangladesh are in any way morally superior to one another. In India right now, the architecture of pure fascism is being put into place. Anybody who resists it risks being smeared, trolled, jailed, or beaten down. But it will be resisted,” the statement read.