HYDERABAD: Booker prize winner Arundhati Roy’s latest book, Broken Republic, was released at a function held here on Saturday.The book, a compilation of three essays _ Mr Chidambaram’s War, Walking with the Comrades and Trickledown Revolution _ was released by Bernard D’Mello,deputy editor of Economic and Political Weekly. The book’s Telugu translation, Dhvamsamaina Swapnam, was also released on the occasion.In Broken Republic, Roy examines the model of India’s development which, she says, has victimised its own people in many spheres. Reading out a few lines from her book, she made a scathing comment on the present political and social scenario in the country. “It is an upper-caste Hindu society at war with other communities. The rights and the fight for them by the oppressed classes go unrecognised by the government.’’ Answering an oft-repeated question “Why do Maoists use weapons to express their protest?”, Roy said the Maoist ideology and their mode of defence needed to be looked at separately. Going on hunger strike in a dense forest with no human population is ridiculous. Surrounded by innumerable CRPF personnel and their lives under constant threat, they resort to use of weapons, she explained.The author, who won the Booker in 1997 for her novel, The God of Small Things, spoke in favour of diversity of ideologies rather than a single ideology for governance and to accommodate the interests of varied communities. D’Mello said the book reflected the scenario in Indian society where the gap between the interests of the dominant class and others was widening. N Venugopal, editor of Veekshanam, and sociologist Ghanta Chakrapani were present. The Telugu translation has been brought out by Malupu Publications.
Comments
0 comment