The opposition Aam Aadmi party governs Delhi, but the capital's police reports to the central government's home ministry. While the prime minister, Narendra Modi, lost his parliamentary majority in the recent elections, the prosecution of Roy shows that those who expected a chastened government willing to operate differently are likely to be disappointed.
Hussain and Roy are to be tried for making speeches at a conference called Azadi [Urdu for "freedom"]: The Only Way, which questioned Indian rule in the then state of Jammu and Kashmir. Hussain is a Kashmiri academic, author and human rights activist. Roy is among India's most celebrated authors, with a wide global following.
After Roy won the Booker prize in 1997, for The God of Small Things, she became the nation's darling. It was the year of India: the 50th anniversary of independence, and the year Salman Rushdie, the first Indian-born winner of the Booker, published a volume anthologising new Indian literature. Roy became an idol. Indeed, in Mira Nair's 2001 film Monsoon Wedding, a character who wants to pursue creative writing is told by an uncle: "Lots of money in writing these days. That girl who won the Booker prize became an overnight millionaire."
This story is from the June 28, 2024 edition of The Guardian Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the June 28, 2024 edition of The Guardian Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Dangerous Alliance Putin And Kim Are The Odd Couple With A Dual Mission
They make an odd couple. One is smiley-faced and chubby. The other is thin-lipped and scowls a lot.
Evangelicals On Crusade To Return Trump To Presidency
God's army is on the march. And many of its foot soldiers are wearing Make America Great Again regalia, sensing that their unlikely standard-bearer, former US president Donald Trump, is once again close to the promised land.
Friends Reunited What Can Russia And North Korea Do For Each Other?
China accounts for more than 90% of North Korea's trade and has been its most dependable aid donor and diplomatic ally.
Tensions Rise On Border As War Looms
Doctors prepare for casualties, people flee their homes and apprehension hangs in the air as threat grows of conflict with Hezbollah
The Prosecution Of Roy Is A Stark Warning From Modi To His Critics Salil Tripathi
This month, the highest ranking bureaucrat of the state of Delhi, Vinai Kumar Saxena, permitted the Delhi police to prosecute Arundhati Roy (pictured), and Sheikh Showkat Hussain for remarks they made at a public event 14 years ago.
Heads up Road deaths prompt a rethink over bike helmets
When 42-year-old Myrthe Boss gets on her bike to go shopping in the Dutch town of Ede, she pops on a helmet.
How Easter Island is swamped by deluge of plastic
Ocean currents are dumping tides of multinational rubbish on to the shores of one of the world's most remote habitats
Bold ideas for a well-dressed salad - and without the need for oil
It's hard to deny the transformative power of a good salad dressing, but you don't need much oil, if any. Honey, for example, will give \"a natural stickiness that helps adhesion to your salad, while the sweetness balances the acidity of vinegar\", says Tony Rodd, head chef at Pomus in Margate
The German theatre that puts climate centre stage
As part of a wider project to reduce its carbon footprint, a Potsdam theatre is reusing props, recycling costumes and doubling up tickets as transport passes
Out of the shadows
Anthony McCall made his name with 'light sculptures' that people could enter. But a show in Sweden led to 20 years in the wilderness
