Arundhati Roy to speak on 'Waqt ki Aahat'
New Delhi: In what may mark writer-activist Arundhati Roys return to controversies, the Booker-winning novelist is scheduled to address a gathering here on the topic "Waqt ki Aahat".
Roy, who rose to global fame as the new deity of prose in 1997 after bagging the most prestigious literary honour 'The Booker Prize' for her debut novel will be in conversation with Alok Rai (Professor of literature at the Department of English, Delhi University) on Wednesday.
Speaking to IANS ahead of the event, Roy criticised the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA dispensation on a range of issues, contending that "I don't think the country has ever been in a situation like this". She said that "there's an ideological preparation to change the constitution" and anticipated that the ruling regime will do "everything they can to re-polarise".
"What I truly fear is that there is a sense this year that the tide is changing and there is a panic among the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, so they will do everything they can to re-polarise.
Although vocal in her criticism of the BJP and its ideological parent, the RSS, Roy has, of late, maintained a low-profile and stayed away from controversies.
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19-year-old woman raped by 5 men, including driver of police vehicle, in Chhattisgarh; 2 detained
Korba (Chhattisgarh)(PTI): A 19-year-old woman was allegedly raped by five men, including the driver of police's emergency response service vehicle, in Chhattisgarh's Korba district, police said on Saturday.
Two accused, including the driver of Dial 112 police helpline vehicle, have been taken into custody, they said.
The incident took place on January 8 night under the Bankimongra police station limits when one of the five accused known to the victim called her, a police official here said.
The accused took the girl to a deserted house in Bankimongra, where the driver and four others allegedly took turns to rape her, he said.
After the incident, the accused fled the spot, leaving the victim in an unconscious condition. The victim later managed to reach her home and narrated the ordeal to her family members, who immediately took her to the medical college hospital and later informed the police, he said.
The case was initially registered as a zero FIR at the Civil Lines police station on Friday and later transferred to Bankimongra police station for investigation, he said.
Korba Superintendent of Police Siddharth Tiwari, two accused, including the private driver of 'Dial 112' service have been detained in the case and efforts are on to trace three other accused.
