Modi govt 'promoting Brahmanism', alleges Arundhati Roy; ABVP protests

Pune: Noted author Arundhati Roy on Saturday alleged that the Narendra Modi-led government was "promoting Brahmanism" in the name of "Hindu Rashtravad", and word like "intolerance" is inadequate to describe the "fear" in which the minorities are presently living, prompting protest from right-wing activists, who dubbed her an "anti-national.

Irked by Roy's presence at a function here, where she was presented an award instituted after social reformer Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, activists of BJP's student wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) staged a noisy protest at the venue.

After receiving the Mahatma Phule Equality award, she claimed the word "intolerance" is inadequate to describe the "fear" in which the minorities in the country are now living. Slamming the Modi government, she alleged it was promoting "Brahmanism" in the name of "Hindu Rashtravad."

Roy, a Booker Prize winner, also alleged that the BJP was trying to "glorify" social reformers in the country as "great Hindus" and cited Dr B R Ambedkar as one of them, though he had left the Hindu religion.

"The history is being re-written and national institutions are being taken over by the government," she further alleged.

Raising slogans against Roy, ABVP activists called her "anti-national, pro-Pakistan and anti-Indian Army", before they were rounded up by police.

The ABVP, in a memorandum handed over to the organisers, Mahatma Phule Samata Parishad, alleged that Roy, by her "anti-national" stand, had hurt the sentiments of all Indians.

On the occasion, NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal said the BJP need to learn its lesson from the Bihar Assembly polls result and Prime Minister Narendra Modi should control the party's "fringe elements" indulging in "intolerant talks".