Azadi; a review

Leo Dong -

A few months ago, Indian authorities granted permission for author Arundhati Roy's prosecution under anti-terror laws over comments she made regarding the disputed region of Kashmir in 2010[1] - a stark reminder of the repression of dissent in the world’s largest democracy. Thus it seemed also a fitting time for a review of her collection of essays, titled "Azadi".

While her novel "God of Small Things"[2] hinted at her displeasure with racial tension in the subcontinent, she has since doubled down on her political messages. Azadi (meaning "freedom") is also the chant of Kashmiri protesters against the Indian government, and Roy's essays explore the deeply entrenched injustices that fuel such cries for freedom.

Among the book’s many revelations is that the much popularised extreme veneration of cows[3] in Indian society is now a politically charged tool to justify violence against the Dalits (the Untouchable Hindu castes) and Muslims.[4] Ironically, Roy asserts[5] that this veneration of cows was originally popularised as a cultural symbol by the privileged Hindu castes to reduce the number of Dalits converting to other religions[6] in an attempt to escape caste-based discrimination.

Roy doesn’t shy away from discussing more recent political upheavals, including the 2019 abrogation of Article 370, which stripped Kashmir of its special status, and the Citizenship Amendment Act, which she critiques for rendering Muslims stateless. She also revisits the horrific Naroda Patiya massacre during the 2002 Gujarat riots, a dark chapter that unfolded under Narendra Modi's watch, where state complicity and the conviction of a cabinet minister for murder still haunt India’s political landscape.[7]

The anti-Roy sentiment sweeping India, fueled by rising nationalism, mirrors a global trend where governments increasingly label dissent as unpatriotic or even treasonous. While China's authoritarianism is widely condemned in the West, a blind eye is generally turned to similar patterns in India. I would assert that this disconnect is purely geopolitical - since the US and other Western democracies view India as a counterbalance to China's influence.[8]

"Azadi" is not just a collection of essays, but a comprehensive, sincere and sobering view of the Subcontinent.

  1. See https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3ggyz13m2po and https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/15/india-author-arundhati-roy-to-be-prosecuted-over-2010-kashmir-remarks. ↩︎

  2. Reviewed by me here: https://blog.leodong.me/the-sun-also-rises/. ↩︎

  3. Gau Rakshak. ↩︎

  4. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_vigilante_violence_in_India and https://www.economist.com/christmas-specials/2022/12/20/indias-movement-to-protect-cows-is-rooted-in-politics-not-religion. ↩︎

  5. In "In What Language Does Rain Fall Over Tormented Cities?". ↩︎

  6. In particular Christianity, Islam and Sikhism. ↩︎

  7. Details on the massacre: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naroda_Patiya_massacre. ↩︎

  8. A real Realpolitik move. ↩︎