Author Arundhati Roy | Photo credit: PTI
Key points
- Arundhati Roy’s book has been removed from the syllabus of a Tamil Nadu university
- The move was taken after complaints from ABVP.
Chennai: Angered by the withdrawal of her book from a university curriculum in Tamil Nadu, author Arundhati Roy lashed out at the state government on Thursday, calling its measure “narrow, superficial and insecure.” The book was withdrawn after complaints from Akhil Bhartiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP), who is a student body of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
All the controversy erupted after Manonmaniam Sundaranar University in Tirunelveli replaced Roy’s book on the syllabus with M. Krishnan’s My Native Land: Essays on Nature.
The book titled “Walking with the Comrades” was part of the university’s postgraduate English study program, but saw fierce opposition from the ABVP. Students claimed that the book glorified the Maoists and supported violence.
Reacting to the university’s decision to remove his book, Arundhati Roy said: “I am more happy than sad because I had no idea that my book was in the curriculum.”
“This narrow, superficial and insecure attitude towards the literature displayed by the current regime is damaging not only to its critics, but also to millions of its own supporters,” he added.
She went on to say that such decisions will limit and atrophy our intellectual capacity as a society in a country that strives for a place of respect and dignity in the world.
It should be noted that the book details Arundhati Roy’s visit to the Maoist hideouts.
