Why we need Arundhati Roy

So that we have someone who is a bit of a gadfly and doesnt mind making some crazy statements once in a while and gets the population all riled up but not totally incensed. People like her add colour to our society and sometimes her social commentary can also be helpful - in getting some perspective.

Of course there will always be someone who takes her a bit too seriously and gets themselves entangled in their own underwear. Arundhati's shrill cries are cheap entertainment at worst and a call for justice at best. But what is which can vary depending on the reader.

Now how you classify her recent statement about Kashmir never being an integral part of India depends on who you are and which side of the border you are and what you define India as. If you take the point of view that India never existed as a country until 1947, then there is some truth in what she says. But you should also know that about a dozen other princely states and union territories were never an integral part (including Goa). Now if you view India as a geographical mass without clear boundaries, but one that stretched from Iran to Burma, then she is of course blowing dope smoke colour blue.

what she has managed to do is make people sit up and ask some hard questions about kashmir - why did we screw it up so bad? What could we have done differently? - Of course no one is really bothering with the answers to these questions really... because politicians dont care. And that's where people like Arundhati make a difference. Hopefully we can tolerate that - or else we will become like China where citizens are prevented from asking any kind of questions.