Only Opposition leader attacking Modi is Rahul: Arundhati Roy

Well-known writer Arundhati Roy on Saturday said the Narendra Modi government is ratcheting up a communal narrative to make people forget hardships caused by COVID-19 and the only Opposition leader openly attacking the dispensation is former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, who does not enjoy "much support".

Her comments came during a digital discussion she had with Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and intellectual Tariq Ali on 'Coronavirus, War and Empire' organised by 'Stop the War Coalition'.

Responding to a question on return of normalcy, Roy said she does not think it will be restored with India facing an "economic devastation" and the government ratcheting up the communal narrative to divert people's attention.

"There was an exodus, people were forced to leave (for their homes in villages). Government did two things. They ratcheted up privatisation of national resources, privatising everything, privatising education by emphasising on online education. The underprivileged, the Dalits will be out of this. We do not have too many people who have access to internet. We have taken a double-hit," she said.

"The government will change the narrative, to make people forget the economic hardships, COVID-19, by ratcheting up Hindu nationalist, anti Muslim rhetoric by preaching vicious bile. They will sell this hatred. Modi can sell anything as he is adored particularly by the powerful middle class and media. He can even sell a comb to a bald person, who will end up combing his bald head. There is a kind of fear in business and media," she said.

To a question by Ali whether there is no Opposition at all in the country, she said there have been places in the country like Kerala where the crisis has been managed better.

"The only politician who is openly opposing Modi is Rahul Gandhi. He doesn't really have much support. But he is doing it. Everyone else, whether they are state parties, they are in complete disarray. One doesn't know why. All of them have some sort of cases. One by one they have been cornered into kind of keeping quiet or facing legal process. I don't know the reasons," she said.

She said all she knew was that whether it was a politician or bureaucrat or industrialist, everyone's brains are "frozen in a kind of fear".

"The moment they open their mouth, they are attacked viciously. Being trolled, threatened and all of that is one part. The attack is merciless. So there is so much fear," she said.

Roy was of the view that India had one of the "most punitive" lockdowns across the globe during which people were exposed to an economic devastation and spreading virus.

Prime Minister Modi gave 1.38 billion just four notice for the lockdown and people were just "one breath away from being refugee" and no other country in the world has seen such a sharp spike in Covid-19 cases during lockdown.

She accused the government of doing nothing for two months after the first case was reported on January 30 because "it had other things to do" like dealing with massive protests against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act that culminated in an anti-Muslim riots in North East Delhi.

This happened "at a time (US President Donald) Trump was visiting India. When the virus was spreading, the logical thing was to shut down the airports. Thousands of people from the United States arrived in India for Namaste Trump. Even after World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 a pandemic, nothing was done", she added.