If Bush is around can the Verbal Terrorist be far behind? The hallmark of Roy’s polemic is no longer a secret: the pent-up fury finds full steam in this article. And as she says,
It’s not in our power to stop Bush’s visit. It is in our power to protest it, and we will.
I’m really surprised at the length of the polemic: it is almost tiny by the standards of her earlier short stories pieces. It has every mark of being composed in a hurry. However that be, Roy’s anti-America disease is full-blown here for she makes personal attacks which border on the disgusting.
Since the Purana Qila also houses the Delhi zoo, George Bush’s audience will be a few hundred caged animals and an approved list of caged human beings who in India go under the category of “eminent persons.” [.] So what’s going to happen to George W Bush? Will the gorillas cheer him on? Will the gibbons curl their lips? Will the brow-antlered deer sneer? Will the chimps make rude noises? Will the owls hoot? Will the lions yawn and the giraffes bat their beautiful eyelashes? Will the crocs recognise a kindred soul? Will the quails give thanks that Bush isn’t travelling with Dick Cheney, his hunting partner with the notoriously bad aim? Will the CEOs agree?
Nice way to protest eh? Or is it entirely in context because she is at last speaking the language of the “oppressed people on the street?”
ON HIS triumphalist tour of this part of the world, where he hopes to wave imperiously at people he considers potential subjects, President Bush’s itinerary is getting curiouser and curiouser.
Give us something new, lady. We’ve read enough of your endless “empire” tirades, how America=Empire, how Bush=dictator… all that. Let it be said clearly: Bush is actually courting India contrary to what Leftist worthies and the Roys of the world proclaim. The US needs India today and it is almost melancholic that our leadership is clueless about the fact–only this can explain its constant back-bending overtures.
And again, Roy is angry with the rich. I suspect her hatred for rich people is somehow linked with her venom against the US; it is almost a visible connection: all rich people are pro-US and Bush is the Master who commands them all.
They’re mostly rich folk who live in our poor country like captive animals, incarcerated by their own wealth, locked and barred in their gilded cages, protecting themselves from the threat of the vulgar and unruly multitudes whom they have systematically dispossessed over the centuries.
Right. Hammer it again and again and again and again and again: India is a poor country. The burgeoning economy is a capitalist lie, the telecom revolution is a rich man’s conspiracy spread through the media poisoned with their money, and the decrease in rural poverty (from 39% to 26%) is again a matter of mere figures which you cannot trust because the eternal bottomline is India is condemned to remain poor till eternity. As for the claim of people being dispossessed for centuries, the Verbal Terrorist marshalls not one instance to substantiate her claim: I take that back–this is a protest pamphlet so these requirements can be safely done away with.
Isn’t it ironical that a sizeable multitude of the rich fawn over her “writings,” applaud them as “bold” and “courageous” and all such other nice epithets? In fact, it wouldn’t be far fetched to conclude that Roy writes precisely to gain their approval: recall the numerous awards from various “foundations,” all of which exist on the milk of capitalist funding.The adoloscent Rebel in her seems to find no exit to maturity.
But it isn’t over yet. Roy is at her fulminating best in these lines:
…on the 2nd of March, Bush will be taken to visit Gandhi’s memorial in Rajghat. He’s by no means the only war criminal who has been invited by the Indian Government to lay flowers at Rajghat. (Only recently we had the Burmese dictator General Than Shwe - no shrinking violet himself.) But when George Bush places flowers on that famous slab of highly polished stone, millions of Indians will wince. It will be as though he has poured a pint of blood on the memory of Gandhi.
Spot on, lady! Indeed, the Indian government also invited the head of the world’s biggest Terrorist State, Saudi Arabia as chief guest on our Republic Day. Nothing could be a greater insult to our democracy than that. But knowing Roy’s penchant for supporting terrorists, this statement is hardly surprising. Bush=war criminal, Taliban=freedom fighters, Bush=dictator Saddam=Angel of Peace… you know the drill. As for Gandhi’s samadhi, I see no reason why millions of Indians will wince. Even going by opinion polls, 71% of Indians seem to welcome Bush (link courtesy, The Acorn). And the Verbal Terrorist should please stop being presumptuous in trying to be the voice of the said millions; or the least she could do is keep quiet lest it be proved that her assertions find no basis in reality.
Nothing the Happynews Papers say can change the fact that all over India from the biggest cities to the smallest villages, in public places and private homes — George W. Bush, incumbent President of the United States of America, world nightmare incarnate, is just not welcome.
Really? The Happynews Papers also include the ones which give you voice: The Anti-Hindu for one, and the other, self-confessed Pseudo secularist rag, Outlook which assaults us regularly with your shrillness. And tell me about the “smallest villages.” I’ll show you at least a hundred villagers living about 60 kms around Bangalore who’ve never heard of Bangalore, Bush you say? The same dispossessed lot you lamented about earlier. Papers you say?
The Government, the Police and the Corporate Press will do everything they can to minimise the extent of our outrage.
The same Corporate Press made you what you are today: a manufacturer of consent and a plain liar.
Related Post: The calculus of infinite irrelevance
Tags: Commentary, Indian Politics, International Politics, Pseudo Secularism Hall of Shame, Society & Culture, Weblogs
On 02.17.06 Something like life says:
No, I have nothing to say about this. But I can direct to two interesting commentaries. One by Sandeep Another byJaffnain response to Sandeep.
On 02.17.06 Opinions says:
Number of Indian nuclear reactors already under IAEA safeguards: 4 [5] Percentage of Indian nuclear reactors under IAEA safeguards: 26% (4 upon 15) [5] (emphasis, mine) Related Links: Jaffna, at Secular-Right on an Indo-American partnership, Sandeeplinks to Kanchan Gupta’s article on the Nuke deal. Tag: Nukes, India, Foreign Policy, USA
On 02.21.06 The Acorn says:
Not ones to miss out on the action In the instance of Yakub Qureshi (via POV &Sandeep), a minister in Uttar Pradesh state, there is a prima facie case of incitement to murder. But what is a little incitement when murderers themselves find themselves in the Indian cabinet? By the way, more than religious fundamentalism, it is plain old
On 02.22.06 Confluence Of Random Thoughts says:
replay of other high profile murders.Nothing seems to prick the conscience of apathetic lot that we have become be it roasting of a women in a Tandoor or a rich ploughing their BMW into poor sleeping on the street. But we knew the verdict already [More]
On 02.28.06 doubtinggaurav says:
Sandeep,
I think in her case the old joke about “how some people are alive because it is illegal to kill them ” stands.
The frightening part is ofcourse that their are some people who believe this invidious rhetoric
Regards
On 02.28.06 doubtinggaurav says:
Oh and by the way this combination allows me to comment so I will stick by it.
Regards
On 02.28.06 Niketan says:
The saddest part is that this lady is an internationally known figure. Usually it is bad to put down ones contrymen overseas, but in her case I am only glad to do so.
Regards
Niketan
On 02.28.06 Sandeep says:
Gaurav,
Good for you and welcome back
Niketan,
Well said. In the past, I used to take on every article she’d written but later realized the effort wasn’t worth it. This was just to exercise my rusted skills
On 02.28.06 Nitin says:
I just saw an NYT article quoting an Outlook opinion poll that shows that a majority of Indians are favourably disposed towards him.
Factual data never got in the way of polemic. More so in her case.
Niketan,
She’s internationally known yes, but exposed too. I mean, most people can tell an idiot even if they can’t immediately recognise self-promoting hypocrites.
On 02.28.06 Vikram K. Hegde says:
Arundathi Roy and her commie friends should be packed in a leaky boat to their Fatherland, China.
I am surprised as to how Indian media tolerates this “One Book Wonder.”
On 02.28.06 Sandeep says:
>>I am surprised as to how Indian media tolerates this “One Book Wonder.”
Simple Vikram: they’re Leftists to the boot. Second, we all need to be entertained. Third, while most think that she is Leftist, methinks Roy has no specific ideology although her “views” lean heavily to the Left. She is a ravenous publicity hound.
On 02.28.06 Guruprasad says:
>>I am surprised as to how Indian media tolerates this “One Book Wonder.”>>
I think it is the “Hooker Prize” she won years ago that is still keeping her in circulation…:D
guruprasad
On 03.01.06 varnam says:
Arundhathi Roy turns humor writer
For choosing the guest for India’s Republic Day celebrations, the Foreign Office was give a specific set of criteria. First, the guest had to be a dictator and second, he had to be responsible for the death of very normal…
On 03.01.06 Niketan says:
Nitin
I do wish it were true, but most people knwo her as an award winning author. Once I saw another Indian specifically recommending her work. I had to tell him exactly what she was
On 03.01.06 Niketan says:
Nitin
Further to my earlier post. if she were truly exposed then how come she is always invited to speak at so many conferences overseas - particularly in the US which she permanently denounces.
What has totally gone unmentioned in all the foreign media is that she has never once visited countries like Cambodia, Afghanistan and other oppressed countries that she claims to champion.
On 03.01.06 RR says:
Sorry, Sandeep. There is no “fury”. There is only drama. Arundhati Roy is India’s numero uno drama queen. We all have careers, right? We all made career choices, right? Roy made hers too: to be India’s (indeed, the world’s) numero uno drama queen. If you believe she is saying ANYTHING out of conviction, you are mistaken. She is saying and doing what she is saying and doing because that is how she makes a living. Analyzing Roy’s writings for their intellectual worth is about as meaningful as analyzing a porn video for its artistic merits.
On 03.01.06 RR says:
May I suggest that you rename this blogpost to:
THE CHIMP MAKES RUDE NOISES
?
On 03.03.06 Parimal Gupta says:
This is typical NDTV stuff.
http://www.ndtv.com/template/template.asp?category=National&template=Gujaratviolence&slug=Politics+of+isolation+rampant+in+Gujarat&id=85344&callid=1
Not a single day goes without damning Gujarat and Modi. I remember how the entire NDTV team was red-faced when Modi won Gujarat.
They saw Modi’s victory as their defeat , because they had gone that extra mile to demonize him.
If we have friends like NDTV, India certainly does not need enemies.
On 03.03.06 Arjun says:
Arundhati Roy believes that by repeating lies a hundred times she may paint them as truth. it is so unfortunate that this senseless Govt. recognises such stupid ppl but the “real” indian intellectuals go unrecognised.
One interesting point i find amongst the commies & leftists is that - they praise each other, every time they get a chance - and make sure that, all unofficial people’s democracies in India publish it..this is how they inform ppl abt who they are..mere quacks….
where were these senseless ppl, when the Chinese premier arrived? a mass murderer nation which killed millions of its own kith n kin..so many ppl in India are today suffering from Soniokonasis..if u r wondering what it is…”their brains are as empty as that of Mrs.G”……Roy is juss an example!
On 03.03.06 Sandeep says:
>>There is no “fury”. There is only drama. Arundhati Roy is India’s numero uno drama queen.
Correct, RR. But we need to call her bluff lest lots of people think of her as an “intellectual.”
On 03.04.06 hammer_sickel says:
Sandeep, That was a nice piece of response to a rabid rant. If you dont mind, can I use it to post on my blog in its entirety? Of course, I will give the author credits to you.
On 03.05.06 Desicritics.org: Media, Culture, Politics, Sports and More with a South Asian Focus says:
public opinion of Americans about India and viceversa augurs well for the passage of the deal in the Congress (despite minor irritants like Lou Dobbs (debunked here) and the one hit wonder Arundhati Roy (fisked among elsewherehere)). Also, contrary to the opposition from Atlanticist mouthpieces like the New York Times, a roundup of several respected American newspapers shows that the deal is viewed with cautious optimism or even welcomed in many cases.
On 03.06.06 belisarius says:
I need we need a site like “moorewatch” to let the entire world know abot her activities. Maybe “Arundhotiroywatch” is a good idea.
Professional fees
Anti Bush rallies (with effigy burning) —-$ 15000
Anti Bush rallies—-$ 10000
Anti America rallies—$ 8000
Anti dam rallies—-$ 7000
On 03.07.06 Sandeep says:
hammer_sickel,
sure, go ahead
belisarius,
hahahaha!
On 03.08.06 terror in delhi 10/29 says:
public opinion of Americans about India and viceversa augurs well for the passage of the deal in the Congress (despite minor irritants like Lou Dobbs (debunked here) and the one hit wonder Arundhati Roy (fisked among elsewherehere)). Also, contrary to the opposition from Atlanticist mouthpieces like the New York Times, a roundup of several respected American newspapers shows that the deal is viewed with cautious optimism or even welcomed in many cases.
On 03.16.06 neo tech secret says:
A fellow dies, goes to hell, and is surprised when confronted by a room full of beautiful blondes and kegs of beer. He asks a nearby demon if this is really hell, and what was so bad about the place.
“Well,” said the demon, “the kegs all have holes in the bottoms, and the blondes don’t!”
On 05.22.07 76 says:
checking.