Statement by Arundhati
Roy
 |
(On January 23, Arundhati
Roy, no introduction needed, received the fourth annual Lannan
Foundation (US) award for ‘Cultural Freedom’ that included a prize
of US $ 350,000. Reproduced below is the text of her acceptance
statement). |
I am honoured and delighted
to accept the Cultural Freedom Prize from the Lannan Foundation whose work I
respect and admire. It is a privilege to be in the company of writers like
Eduardo Galeano and Mahmoud Darwish who have won the prize in previous
years.
I accept this prize knowing
that there are many people around the world who deserve it more than I do.
Unknown, invisible people who are raising their voices and fighting the
fight at much greater cost to themselves than I could ever claim. In these
times, when all over the world democratic spaces are being usurped and
violated in the name of corporate globalization and the "war against
terror", when fascism is staring us in the face (in India, it is
beating down the doors), it is a sign of great hope that there are so many
people’s movements and individuals who see through the charade and are
committed to resisting this process.
It has not been easy to
decide what to do with the considerable sum of money that comes with the
prize. I am more than delighted to announce that the money will be shared by
at least a few of those who are engaged in the struggle of making India a
real democracy instead of just a notional one.
The money, US $350,000 (Rs
1.67 crores), will be received by me, and after taxes have been deducted by
the Government of India, this sum (Rs 1.15 crores) will be shared by the
fifty remarkable people’s movements/publications/educational
institutions/theatre groups and individuals that are listed below.
Each of them is in their own
way working to challenge the entrenched power structure of the society in
which we live. The list was drawn up over a period of several weeks, after a
great deal of thought and discussion with a range of friends, colleagues and
activists from across the country. To them, a big thank you.
I should also like to say
that I am aware that there are many people and organizations whose names are
not on the list, not because they don’t deserve to be, but because of the
limited nature of our task.
I would have liked to share at least part of
the money with independent and alternative media groups in the US - Democracy
Now, Indymedia and Alternative Radio — all of whom are
staging a courageous and formidable battle against their own government’s
propaganda. Unfortunately, Indian Law does not permit me to do this. So to
all those groups - apologies - and, as we say here in India, Zindabad!
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