Sharad Pawar slams Delhi LG’s decision to prosecute Arundhati Roy
Mumbai: Indian politician and Nationalist Congress Party chief, Sharad Pawar has criticized the Delhi Lieutenant Governor’s decision to prosecute renowned author Arundhati Roy under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for her alleged provocative speech in 2010.
According to Kashmir Media Service, speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Sharad Pawar said, “This is nothing but misuse of power.”
Besides Roy, the Delhi LG also gave the green signal for action under UAPA against Kashmiri scholar and former Central University of Kashmir professor Sheikh Showkat Hussain.
Roy, a Booker Prize-winning Indian author, and Hussain had been named in an FIR registered on October 28, 2010 on the basis of a complaint by Kashmiri Hindu rightwing activist, Sushil Pandi. The two had made the speeches at a conference organised under the banner of ‘Azadi – The Only Way’ on October 21, 2010, in New Delhi. “The issues discussed and spoken about at the conference propagated the separation of Kashmir from India,” an official said on Friday.
Earlier, the National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party have also expressed strong disapproval of the prosecution against Arundhati Roy and Sheikh Showkat. In their statements in Srinagar, the two parties from IIOJK criticized the use of stringent laws to suppress dissent and criminalize speech, calling it deeply concerning. They added that New Delhi continues its rampage, violating fundamental rights with impunity. KMS-14S
