Renowned Indian author Arundhati Roy urged the citizens of India to stand up against the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
In a statement on the nationwide protests on CAA, the writer said on Monday that the government is set to “break the back of our Constitution and cut the ground from under our feet”.
Roy spoke about demonetization and blamed it for the downfall of the Indian economy. She said, “Three years ago, we stood in line obediently outside banks as demonetisation was imposed on us, a policy that broke the back of our country’s economy.”
Three years ago, on November 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the discontinuation of the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes out of the blue. Modi had informed that the notes won’t be valid after a set period. The citizens were given less than two months to get their soon to be invalid currency notes exchanged for the new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes.
Several people had lost their lives and savings post demonetization and the financial markets still claim to be reviving from its effects.
Roy reminded people about the post-demonetization period and said, “Are we going to stand in line once again, obediently, and comply with the policy that eerily resembles the 1935 Nuremberg Laws of the Third Reich,” Roy asked. She said we India will cease to exist if we accept this, adding that “we are faced with the biggest challenge since Independence.”
“Stand up,” she said. “Please. Stand up”.
