After Arundhati’s Roy’s book removed from Tamil Nadu University, the writer has now issued a statement saying that the narrow, Shallow, insecure attitude towards literature displayed by the current regime is not just detrimental to its critics but it also detrimental to its own supporters. The book was removed after complaints from Akhil Bhartiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP), which is a student body of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The book was part of the university’s postgraduate English syllabus but saw fierce opposition from the ABVP. The student body claimed that the book glorified Maoists and supported violence.

The entire controversy erupted after the Manonmaniam Sundaranar University in Tirunelveli replaced Roy’s book on the syllabus with M. Krishnan’s My Native Land: Essays on Nature.

I am not in the least bit shocked or surprised, says the writer

Reacting to the removal Arundhati Roy said in a statement that when she heard about the removal of her book from the curriculum following threats and pressure from ABVP, oddly enough she was more happy than sad beacuse she had no idea that it was in the curriculum in the first place, Butshe took the withdrawal of her book positively and she is glad it has been taught for several years.

It will limit and stunt our collective intellectual capacity as a society and a country that is striving for a place of respect and dignity.