Thrissur: Writer and activist Arundhati Roy said on Sunday that Manipur was witnessing a kind of ethnic cleansing.
The Booker Prize-winning author was speaking after receiving the Navamalayali Cultural Prize at the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Hall in Thrissur.
Roy also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was busy posting that he had Appam for dinner when the country was burning and women were being paraded naked.
“Manipur is witnessing a kind of ethnic cleansing. The Centre is complicit, the State is partisan and security forces are split. Manipur issue is not isolated,” she said.
"We live in a time where women are justifying rape and telling men to rape other women. They have gone psychotic. Police are handing over women to a mob to get raped. In Haryana, men accused for burning two Muslim men alive are leading religious processions.”
"Kerala, which can be described as a miracle in terms of political consciousness and intellectual growth, has more responsibilities at hand. Kerala should send a study team to Manipur and provide help. If you don't do anything now, your future generations will be ashamed of you," Roy said.
She added that awards were futile if writers cannot bring about changes in the society through writing. Roy also set aside the prize money of Rs1 lakh for a social service trust aimed at helping the writing community.
"Feminism involves a woman realizing who she is in the fullest sense. I've never tried to be a good woman. But I've always tried to be a good writer," she said.
Roy also demanded the release of former Maoist and human rights activist GROW Vasu at the event.
The award was presented by J Devika. PN Gopikrishnan presided the ceremony. TT Sreekumar, Samira Naseer, Deepa Chirayil, Soni Melukaran and PS Shanu spoke at the function.