19 ms·

Arundhati Roy: ‘We are witnessing a crime against humanity’

62 points by jbegley 6y ago

zxienin 6y ago
I expect this to be flamewar post. Modi administration gags news and media. Author (Arundhati Roy) is established as “urban naxal”, supports Kashmir separatist group. Naxal insurgency is seen as tool used to keep India destabilized.
- windex 6y ago
  You seem to be using the language of the Modi propaganda machine that labels and tars every critic in India as a naxal or anti national.
  - zxienin 6y ago
    I also seem to using the language of anti Modi propaganda machine..
dragonsh 6y ago
Very insightful and beautifully written piece. Today’s events in India are a culmination of unscientific ways of handling the pandemic and wasting a year without ground preparation resulting in scores of deaths.
- laxmin 6y ago
  What exactly was unscientific ways? Also, the second wave is always more deadly than the first. When total lockdown was imposed, the entire western media decried it all, and due to political pressure, the lockdown was removed... Hence the consequence.
  - anaganisk 6y ago
    On what basis are you spewing out BS like "second waves are always deadly" The PM had massive election rallies. Govt allowed Khumb mela to happen, now in process of allowing Amarnath yatra. Remember how offended people were during Tabligi, but the above doesnt matter because you can't scapegoat your main voter base. Instead of all self praise and putting the guard down too quick, govt had an year of time and multiple warnings to ramp up everything which they all ignored. This is the result of all the ministers wasting their time in campaigns and rallies rather than monitoring the deadly pandemic. Chennai High court called Election Commision of India Murderous, for allowing these rallies to happen. PM instead of being responsible person personally went in for campaigns. Also look at how they are handling the criticism by passing laws against sharing of criticism on social media and also by deleting the content on those sites.
    - laxmin 6y ago
      Dude. What exactly is 'unscientific' about these, still waiting. You are talking about elections, election commission, over which the government has no authority. What laws were exactly passed against sharing of criticism? Can you link to them?
windex 6y ago
If you search twitter, you will find videos of the ruling dispensation dropping cow urine down the throats of those intubated and on ventilators. The videos were quickly deleted by the party representative who posted it. But the administration truly believes that cow urine is the cure. Most upwardly mobile, educated Indians I know are trying to move out of the country as it slowly descends into the medieval hell it wants to be. The ruling dispensation has deep roots in western countries through the diaspora that funds its regressive initiatives. It's hell right now in India and the international press is covering but a small slice of it.
- laxmin 6y ago
  Please. I am a physician. Spare me your toxic shocking propaganda. The situation is not as bad as the western media makes it out to be. The number of cases per ten thousand is still way far behind the US, EU and the rest of the world. In sheer numbers, India will always have large figures.
  - zozbot234 6y ago
    > Please. I am a physician. Not sure what's the point of this reply. As a physician, do you think that people aren't pouring freakin' cow piss down COVID patients' throats, hence that the videos are faked - or do you mean that you expect cow piss to be an effective treatment for COVID? These are the only ways I could make sense of your reply.
    - sundarurfriend 6y ago
      Or that he/she is responding to the "move out of the country as it slowly descends into the medieval hell it wants to be" part which fits well into the category of what they call "toxic shocking propaganda". It's easy to make sense of their comment, you just have to try.
    - laxmin 6y ago
      > do you think that people aren't pouring freakin' cow piss down COVID patients' throats, hence that the videos are faked In the US, people are pouring freaking bleach down people's throats and even the PRESIDENT of the United States went on his press to advocate that. So spare me your indignation. I was objecting to the statement that the 'the administration truly believes that cow urine is the cure.'
sinyug 6y ago
Arundhati Roy is always a great read. A notorious Hinduphobe and Indophobe wielding a poisonous pen she may be, but the way she has parlayed her Booker prize win into international celebrity is something every wannabe Indian intellectual should learn from. - Casually accepting racism against India from the Washington Post? Check. - Expecting first world facilities in a third world country? Check. - Para after para of beautifully written tragedy porn? Check. - Deliberately misrepresenting the CAA without mentioning the 1947 Nehru-Gandhi promise to the wretched non-Muslim minorities of Pakistan about their always having a home in India? How dare Hindus and Sikhs whose teenage daughters were forcibly converted to Islam and married off to decrepit old men in Pakistan come seeking asylum to their original homeland. Go back you dirty scum! Don't you see we are more concerned about Rohingya Muslims from Burma? Check. - Referring to the RSS as a fascist organization while previously having celebrating terrorists as "Gandhians with guns"? Check. - Barely concealed hatred for the man who united India: Vallabhbhai Patel? Check. - Referring to the Delhi riots as an anti-Muslim pogrom while her friends in academia and the anti-Modi media prevented a publisher from publishing a book on the riot?[1] Check. - The Kumbh mela only exists "so that millions of Hindu pilgrims could crowd together in a small town to bathe in the Ganges and spread the virus even-handedly as they returned to their homes across the country." - Talking about the West Bengal elections without talking about how incredibly violent the naxals, communists and socialists have been in the state for the last 50 years? Check. - The narrative for West Bengal is already ready. If the BJP wins, it did it over the corpses of thousands. if it loses, it is because West Bengal rejected communal politics. - Lying about SII and Bharat Biotech vaccines being some of the most expensive in the world purely because the companies are Indian?[2] Check. - Mentioning the Gujarat riots of 2002 while downplaying the murder of Hindus as well as the original trigger: 59 Hindu pilgrims including 27 women and 10 children locked inside train compartments and burnt alive by a bloodthirsty 2000-strong Muslim mob? Check. Like I said, Roy is a great read. If you want to create a Modi voter, all you have to do point this person to her writings. And then show them the truth. 1. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/24/bloomsbury-india-pulls-delhi-riots-2020-book-after-anti-muslim-controversy https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/24/bloomsbury-ind... 2. EU prices: * Oxford University and AstraZeneca: $2.18 (1.78 euro) * Johnson & Johnson: $10.42 (8.50 euro) * Sanofi and Glaxo Smith Klein: $9.27 (7.56 euro) * Pfizer and BioNTech: $14.71 (12 euro) * CureVac: $12.26 (10 euro) * Moderna: $22.06 (18 euro)
esrh 6y ago
I am not familiar with indian politics, but it's really obvious that this article is written as an accusatory political slam more than an article concerned with covid. In my experience, there is probably another side to the story when that happens.
- CodeGlitch 6y ago
  Welcome to The Guardian, a once respectable newspaper :)

62 points by jbegley 6y ago

I expect this to be flamewar post. Modi administration gags news and media. Author (Arundhati Roy) is established as “urban naxal”, supports Kashmir separatist group. Naxal insurgency is seen as tool used to keep India destabilized.

windex 6y ago
You seem to be using the language of the Modi propaganda machine that labels and tars every critic in India as a naxal or anti national.
- zxienin 6y ago
  I also seem to using the language of anti Modi propaganda machine..

dragonsh 6y ago

Very insightful and beautifully written piece. Today’s events in India are a culmination of unscientific ways of handling the pandemic and wasting a year without ground preparation resulting in scores of deaths.

laxmin 6y ago
What exactly was unscientific ways? Also, the second wave is always more deadly than the first. When total lockdown was imposed, the entire western media decried it all, and due to political pressure, the lockdown was removed... Hence the consequence.
- anaganisk 6y ago
  On what basis are you spewing out BS like "second waves are always deadly" The PM had massive election rallies. Govt allowed Khumb mela to happen, now in process of allowing Amarnath yatra. Remember how offended people were during Tabligi, but the above doesnt matter because you can't scapegoat your main voter base. Instead of all self praise and putting the guard down too quick, govt had an year of time and multiple warnings to ramp up everything which they all ignored. This is the result of all the ministers wasting their time in campaigns and rallies rather than monitoring the deadly pandemic. Chennai High court called Election Commision of India Murderous, for allowing these rallies to happen. PM instead of being responsible person personally went in for campaigns. Also look at how they are handling the criticism by passing laws against sharing of criticism on social media and also by deleting the content on those sites.
  - laxmin 6y ago
    Dude. What exactly is 'unscientific' about these, still waiting. You are talking about elections, election commission, over which the government has no authority. What laws were exactly passed against sharing of criticism? Can you link to them?

windex 6y ago

If you search twitter, you will find videos of the ruling dispensation dropping cow urine down the throats of those intubated and on ventilators. The videos were quickly deleted by the party representative who posted it. But the administration truly believes that cow urine is the cure. Most upwardly mobile, educated Indians I know are trying to move out of the country as it slowly descends into the medieval hell it wants to be. The ruling dispensation has deep roots in western countries through the diaspora that funds its regressive initiatives. It's hell right now in India and the international press is covering but a small slice of it.

laxmin 6y ago
Please. I am a physician. Spare me your toxic shocking propaganda. The situation is not as bad as the western media makes it out to be. The number of cases per ten thousand is still way far behind the US, EU and the rest of the world. In sheer numbers, India will always have large figures.
- zozbot234 6y ago
  > Please. I am a physician. Not sure what's the point of this reply. As a physician, do you think that people aren't pouring freakin' cow piss down COVID patients' throats, hence that the videos are faked - or do you mean that you expect cow piss to be an effective treatment for COVID? These are the only ways I could make sense of your reply.
  - sundarurfriend 6y ago
    Or that he/she is responding to the "move out of the country as it slowly descends into the medieval hell it wants to be" part which fits well into the category of what they call "toxic shocking propaganda". It's easy to make sense of their comment, you just have to try.
  - laxmin 6y ago
    > do you think that people aren't pouring freakin' cow piss down COVID patients' throats, hence that the videos are faked In the US, people are pouring freaking bleach down people's throats and even the PRESIDENT of the United States went on his press to advocate that. So spare me your indignation. I was objecting to the statement that the 'the administration truly believes that cow urine is the cure.'

sinyug 6y ago

Arundhati Roy is always a great read. A notorious Hinduphobe and Indophobe wielding a poisonous pen she may be, but the way she has parlayed her Booker prize win into international celebrity is something every wannabe Indian intellectual should learn from. - Casually accepting racism against India from the Washington Post? Check. - Expecting first world facilities in a third world country? Check. - Para after para of beautifully written tragedy porn? Check. - Deliberately misrepresenting the CAA without mentioning the 1947 Nehru-Gandhi promise to the wretched non-Muslim minorities of Pakistan about their always having a home in India? How dare Hindus and Sikhs whose teenage daughters were forcibly converted to Islam and married off to decrepit old men in Pakistan come seeking asylum to their original homeland. Go back you dirty scum! Don't you see we are more concerned about Rohingya Muslims from Burma? Check. - Referring to the RSS as a fascist organization while previously having celebrating terrorists as "Gandhians with guns"? Check. - Barely concealed hatred for the man who united India: Vallabhbhai Patel? Check. - Referring to the Delhi riots as an anti-Muslim pogrom while her friends in academia and the anti-Modi media prevented a publisher from publishing a book on the riot?[1] Check. - The Kumbh mela only exists "so that millions of Hindu pilgrims could crowd together in a small town to bathe in the Ganges and spread the virus even-handedly as they returned to their homes across the country." - Talking about the West Bengal elections without talking about how incredibly violent the naxals, communists and socialists have been in the state for the last 50 years? Check. - The narrative for West Bengal is already ready. If the BJP wins, it did it over the corpses of thousands. if it loses, it is because West Bengal rejected communal politics. - Lying about SII and Bharat Biotech vaccines being some of the most expensive in the world purely because the companies are Indian?[2] Check. - Mentioning the Gujarat riots of 2002 while downplaying the murder of Hindus as well as the original trigger: 59 Hindu pilgrims including 27 women and 10 children locked inside train compartments and burnt alive by a bloodthirsty 2000-strong Muslim mob? Check. Like I said, Roy is a great read. If you want to create a Modi voter, all you have to do point this person to her writings. And then show them the truth. 1. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/24/bloomsbury-india-pulls-delhi-riots-2020-book-after-anti-muslim-controversy https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/24/bloomsbury-ind... 2. EU prices: * Oxford University and AstraZeneca: $2.18 (1.78 euro) * Johnson & Johnson: $10.42 (8.50 euro) * Sanofi and Glaxo Smith Klein: $9.27 (7.56 euro) * Pfizer and BioNTech: $14.71 (12 euro) * CureVac: $12.26 (10 euro) * Moderna: $22.06 (18 euro)

esrh 6y ago

I am not familiar with indian politics, but it's really obvious that this article is written as an accusatory political slam more than an article concerned with covid. In my experience, there is probably another side to the story when that happens.

CodeGlitch 6y ago
Welcome to The Guardian, a once respectable newspaper :)