Tag: Author

  • Author Arundhati Roy to be prosecuted in India for 2010 speech

    Prolific writer Arundhati Roy, the only non-expatriate Booker prize winning author of The God of Small Things, is one of the most high-profile critics of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a voice for the voiceless in her country.

    Amidst the dire situation of press freedom in India, the author may face prosecution for a speech she delivered in 2010 about Kashmir, as per media reports. A top-official in New Delhi, VK Saxena, has given approval for the case to proceed before the courts. According to Saxena’s directive, Roy and her co-defendants were allegedly advocating for the secession of Kashmir from India at a public function and that is enough evidence for a legal case.

    Under the Modi Government, sedition laws are often used to curb the freedom of expression and journalism, raising a question over the so-called biggest democracy’s principles. Added to that are PSA laws exclusive to Jammu and Kashmir which allow detention of individuals “preventively” for up to two years, without a trial or warrant. In IOK, a number of journalists have been held in detention.

    The revocation of Article 370 ensuring the special status of Kashmir on August 6, 2019, has caused voices like Roy to become more loud. “In Kashmir when we wake up and say, ‘Good Morning’ what we really mean is ‘Good Mourning,’” exclaimed one of the characters from her novel, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. Her house was besieged when the speech became public and the complaint that lodged against her has now proceeded after 13 years.

    Roy, now 61, has always been fearless in her expression and is known for her work as a journalist, activist and a novelist. Her work is a scribbled protest whereas her speeches and the articles she reads in conferences is vocal dissent in the face of oppressors. In one of her famous speeches, she voices out the basic facts of Kashmir’s reality that “it is not an integral part of India and even the Indian Government has accepted this years back in the UN.” Her latest book Azadi Freedom, Fascism, Fiction is an honest account of the situation of minorities, Dalits and activists in India.

  • Woman who wrote book on grief after husband’s death charged with his murder

    Woman who wrote book on grief after husband’s death charged with his murder

    Kouri Richins, a mother of three and author of a book about grief following the death of her husband, has been charged with his murder.

    According to prosecutors, she allegedly poisoned Eric Richins with a lethal dose of the synthetic drug fentanyl, which was found in his system after he died on March 4, 2022.

    Ms Richins was detained in Provo, Utah, on Monday and is also charged with possessing GHB, a drug commonly associated with “date rape” cases due to its sedative effects.

    Search warrants seen by KPCW revealed that Mr Richins’ family had expressed suspicion that Ms Richins was responsible for his death, and he had reportedly warned them that she was to blame if anything happened to him. The charges also come after an “unnamed acquaintance” claimed to have sold fentanyl to Ms Richins.

    Ms Richins claimed to have found her husband “cold to the touch” after she had given him a THC gummy and a Moscow Mule to celebrate him selling a house. Following his death, she wrote a picture book titled “Are you with me?” to help children dealing with the loss of a loved one.

    She had been promoting the book in recent television interviews, including an appearance on “Good Things Utah,” where she explained that children needed to be reminded that a loved one’s spirit is always present in the home.

    In addition to the murder charge, Ms Richins is also accused of altering her husband’s life insurance policy to make herself the sole beneficiary. She is currently in custody, and the case is ongoing.

  • Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar reprimands women writers

    Pakistani writer Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar reprimanded women writers for humiliating relationships in dramas.

    In an interview when Khalil-ur-Rehman was asked what was the reason that people in showbiz are so afraid of him, he said: “People are afraid of me because I am honest with my work. They will be afraid of dishonesty.”

    He added: “Female writers have stigmatised relationships like that of a sister-in-law, mother-in-law and brother-in-law.” He said that there are 99.9 per cent women who are writing in the industry but they only write about family politics and stigmatise sacred relationships.

    The Mere Paas Tum Ho writer spoke on a variety of topics. While giving his opinion on the friendship between males and females, he said that there is no such thing as a friendship between a girl and a boy. “This is the biggest lie in the world.”

    Qamar has been involved in many controversies including a debate on Aurat March slogans with Marvi Sirmed. He said to Ms Sirmed that “no one would even spit on your body” and that she was a “cheap woman” who should “shut up”. He was criticised by politicians and prominent figures, while Geo TV suspended his contract. He said, he did not interrupt her but she interrupted him when he was talking.