CJP protests destroy Modi’s carefully cultivated 24-year image: Arundhati Roy
New Delhi: Acclaimed Indian author Arundhati Roy has said that the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led youth protest at Jantar Mantar destroyed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s carefully cultivated public image, built over more than two decades, in just two weeks, describing it a political blow “bigger than any election victory.”
According to Kashmir Media Service, speaking at the launch of the Hindi translation of her book “Mother Mary Comes to Me” at the India International Centre (IIC) in New Delhi, Roy Roy said the protests demonstrated that narratives built over decades could be shaken within weeks through people’s collective action.
Referring to the anti-government demonstrations, Roy said the image cultivated around Modi over the past 24 years “was destroyed in just two weeks” despite massive spending on image-building and personality projection. “This is, in a way, a bigger victory than elections,” she remarked.
However, she cautioned that the struggle was far from over, saying the government still retained control over key institutions. She urged opposition parties and civil society to work together to defend democratic institutions and take a leaf out of the book of protesters at Jantar Mantar.
Roy, a Booker Prize-winning author and long-time critic of the Modi government, said the young protesters had acted with remarkable responsibility despite them not possibly agreeing with each other on every issue, demonstrating the strength of peaceful collective action. “They played their role very responsibly,” she added.
Reflecting on the burden of being celebrated as a successful writer, Roy questioned the idea of personal achievement, saying violence and injustice continued unabated elsewhere. She said her writing has consistently focused on people suffering injustice and oppression rather than personal success. Citing experiences from her childhood, she said public recognition always reminded her of those whose voices remained unheard.
Expanding on the metaphor of “the other room” from her book, Roy said that “someone is being beaten” everywhere—”in Gaza, at a bus stand, in a village, at Jantar Mantar”—stressing that her work had consistently tried to draw attention to those who remained unseen, away from the public spotlight.
She concluded by saying that the responsibility now lay with citizens to resist normalising injustice. “Now we have to show that we will not be beaten anymore,” Roy said to a thundering applause from the audience. KMS-19S
