Compared to work of Dr. Karanth, Bhairappa, CT Khanolkar, HM Marathe, RS Dighe, SNPendase, TS Pillai, MT vasudevan Nair and our own Pundalik Naik and Mahabaleshwar Sail I did not find anything in much hyped GOST which I read within a few weeks of its' publication in India. Unfortunatley all those I mentioned made the mistake of publishing in their mother tongue first. They had no literary agents and professional editors. After she ran out of original creative ideas (what's the name of her second novel?epic? or drama? ) a confused Arundhati Roy is trying to develop a constituency for herself...perhaps a radical school of thought which Indian intellectuals would then teach as "arundhati roy school of anti state antipolitics". She is good at crafting words and phrases and so would succeed nationally and internationally in her project. She has a strategy-be iconoclastic, unconventional, use shock treatment...get peoples' attention no matter what you write! Still Arundhati Roy needs India and India needs her. She is basically playing to a western audience which hates to see a stable, economically prosperous, united India. But she can attempt to write something in Indian languages too , like in Malayalam- and not use the language of an oppressive capitalist society. But she can't help it. She knows that she is more fluent in a foreign language..... what a contradiction?. I am sure her naxalite comrades don't speak or use English, Cantonese or Javanese... India still needs Many bold anglophilic women like her. That's the test of real democracy. Agreeing to disagree. We don't and shouldn't hate Arundhati. She is one and exceptional. She may be wrong but she has right to say what she feels strongly about... Arundhati naturally doesn't believe in Gandhiji and jaiprakash narayan. JP did not glorify the Chambal dacoits. He worked to change their lives and make them surrender. Where are the dacoits in Chambal today?. Does anyone think the dacoity problem in Chambal ravines was lesser than naxalism? Arundhati could even take a leaf out of Raj Kapoor's monumental film "jis desh me ganga behati hai". If I were the PM of India then I would have given full powers and logistic support to Ms. Roy to negotiate with the Naxalites and come out with an accord within of course India's constitutional framework. She could have even consulted the Nepalese comrades. But she herself would find out that Naxalites are negatively indoctrinated and being self righteous and rigid would not abhor violence. There is a larger plan of disintegrating Indian state. The issue is not as simple as stopping resource exploitation, forest rights, tribal rights and self rule. I am a small person. Despite problems I believe in constitution of India and the power of the vote. The Mizoram accord proved what India could do. It is the vote politics in radical W. bengal and Kerala today where guns were booming and bombs used to go off in 60s and 70s. Miracles are possible in democracy. Majority of India doesn't appreciate Naxalism and the path of violence. The public opinion against naxalites would snowball in a year or two as they engage in mindless violence. With superior intelligence, Naxals would be crushed if the powerful Indian state hammers them. it doesn't matter how long it takes and what it would cost. The Sri lankans have shown what they could do. The LTTE virus was eliminated. We have the example of end of militancy in Punjab. What happened to the Naxalism in Andhra Pradesh?. There were also sympathizers of veerappan who used the same "Robin hood" logic. Veerappan was crushed. Naxalism can be glorified but it can not survive without supply lines from Pakistani and Chinese support. We had heard shrill pro-naxalism and naxalite voices (slogans like 'naxalbari lal saalam, laal salam etc. on streets, pro naxalism wall graffitti etc) in Goa during the days of students movement (1980-90). Public memory is short. Most of naxal sympathizers, co-travellers have now changed or gone underground. They could join AR. Has Arundhati heard of people who offer practical solutions? Here we have Dr. Abhay and Rani Bang, sacrificing urban comforts and choosing to serve the poorest of poor, the tribals in naxalite infested gadchiroli district in Maharashtra. Send a hundred Bangs in Naxalites areas and watch the change... There are many others like Rajendra Singh of Tarun Bharat sangh working for millions of poor and marginalised farmers in Rajasthan. Has she heard of Godatai Parulekar, Anutai wagh or Nanaji Deshmukh?. Did she ask Sunderlal Bahuguna and Chandiprasad Bhat of Chipko fame in Garwhal Himalayas why they did not embrace Naxalism? Apart from promising them the much needed narcissistic publicity platform ( that too in capitalist centric press which consumes resources of the poor) did in any of her interactions with the Naxal comrades, Ms. Roy ask them what else she could do for their hostage supporters, e.g. better roads, jobs, schools, health care, immunisation, food, better houses, water, power supply? She herself being very compassionate and generous could fund many of such projects which the people kept under barrel of gun, without opportunity to rethink what they are doing, need very badly and urgently... Therefore to make this dream possible, it is high time that the moment Indian armed forces move in, the naxalite comrades could nominate her for the coveted "Nobel peace prize, 2010-11". The prize money could be then spent by Ms. Roy in naxal areas. That experience itself would seed another pamphlet from her... The Indian state which she hates would never consider her for Padma award or a Bharatratna. But I would not be surprised if she is decorated with "nishan a pakistan; or " Honour of yellow river"... Let us wait and watch and continue reading her tirades.... Till she suddenly changes he track and declares that she would be now working on a new novel And if she does write one-it would be great.. and it would earn her another Nobel-in Literature!
-- Dr. Nandkumar Kamat, GOA