Arundhati Roy slams Modi govt’s ‘gutless, spineless’ response to US-Israel attack on Iran
New Delhi: Acclaimed Indian writer Arundhati Roy has strongly criticized the Narendra Modi-led Indian government for its response to the US-Israeli aggression against Iran, saying she feels “ashamed of how gutless and spineless our government has been”.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Roy made the remarks while speaking at a book-related event in New Delhi, where she used the platform to condemn the “unprovoked and illegal attack by the United States and Israel on Iran”. Calling it a continuation of the US-Israeli genocide in Gaza, Roy said, “It’s the same old genocidaires using the same old playbook. Murdering women and children. Bombing hospitals. Carpet bombing cities. And then playing the victim.”
However, Roy warned: “But Iran is not Gaza.” “The theatre of this new war could expand to consume the whole world. We are on the brink of nuclear calamity and economic collapse. The same country that bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki could be readying itself to bomb one of the most ancient civilizations in the world,” she said, adding that she stands with Iran.
Slamming the Narendra Modi-led Indian government, she said, “Iran is standing up to them while India cowers”, adding, “I am ashamed of how gutless, how spineless our government has been.”
Reflecting on India’s changing political climate, she said, “Long ago, we were a poor country of very poor people. But we had pride and dignity. Today we are a rich country with very poor, unemployed people who are fed on a diet of hatred, poison and falsehoods instead of real food. We have lost pride, dignity and courage, except in our movies.”
Roy also questioned on India’s silence over US actions against foreign leaders. “What sort of people are we whose elected government cannot stand up and condemn the U.S. when it kidnaps and assassinates Heads of State of other countries,” she asked.
She further criticized Indian PM Narendra Modi’s close ties with Israel, pointing out that he had travelled to Israel and embraced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shortly before the attack on Iran.
Roy also took aim at India’s economic policies and foreign relations, questioning trade agreements with the United States and what she described as India seeking “permission” to buy oil from Russia. “What else do we need permission for? To go to the bathroom? To take a day off work? To visit our mothers?” she asked.
Highlighting the plight of Indian workers in Israel, Roy said that during the height of the Gaza conflict the Indian government had sent thousands of workers to Israel to replace Palestinian labourers. “Today, while Israelis take shelter in bunkers, it is being reported that those Indian workers are not allowed into those shelters,” she said.
Roy further said every day U.S. politicians, including Donald Trump, “mock and demean us publicly, and our Prime Minister laughs his famous, vacuous laugh and hugs on”.
