Arundhati Roy: India Is Undergoing An 'Ideological Tectonic Shift'

India has a sizable Muslim minority. At 168 million people, it’s the second-largest Muslim population in the world. Since the Hindu nationalist leader Narendra Modi took power as prime minister last year, many say things are getting worse for ordinary Muslim citizens in India.

In recent weeks, hundreds of authors, filmmakers and academics have returned national awards to protest what author Salman Rushdie has called “thuggish violence” against Muslims condoned by the Modi government.

Writer Arundhati Roy is returning an award for best screenplay, which she was awarded in 1989. Roy recently wrote a piece for The Indian Express saying she’s “proud” to add her name and voice to the growing list of those standing up.

“I am very pleased to have found (from somewhere way back in my past) a National Award that I can return, because it allows me to be a part of a political movement initiated by writers, filmmakers and academics in this country who have risen up against a kind of ideological viciousness and an assault on our collective IQ that will tear us apart and bury us very deep if we do not stand up to it now.”

Here & Now‘s Indira Lakshmanan speaks with Arundhati Roy about what’s happening in India, which Roy describes as an “ideological tectonic shift.”

Guest

• Arundhati Roy, activist, writer and winner of the Man Booker Prize for her novel “The God of Small Things.”

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