'We are a democracy': India pressed to drop terror law prosecution of Arundhati Roy

More than 200 Indian academics, activists and journalists have published an open letter urging the Indian government to withdraw last week’s decision authorising the prosecution of the Booker prize-winning author Arundhati Roy under the country’s stringent anti-terrorism law.

- Amrit Dhillon

The letter says: “We … deplore this action and appeal to the government and the democratic forces in the country to ensure that no infringement of the fundamental right to freely and fearlessly express views on any subject takes place in our nation .”

One of the signatories, Prof Ajay Dandekar, said the decision was unjustified. “The Indian constitution upholds Roy’s right to the freedom of her opinions and we are a constitutional democracy,” he said.

Others have voiced support for Roy too, including the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella group of farmers’ unions, which condemned the government’s decision. Protests by civil rights groups, activists and students in Delhi and Bangalore have also taken place.

Last week the lieutenant governor of Delhi, Vinai Kumar Saxena, authorised police to prosecute Roy, along with the academic Sheikh Showkat Hussain, under the anti-terrorism law, known as the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), for remarks they made at a seminar in 2010.

Roy is reported to have said the disputed region of Kashmir had never been "an integral part of India".