Left parties in India need to understand casteism to form effective alliance: Arundhati Roy

"I explained how a group of 21 powerful people in India have more wealth than 30 crore common people combined. Five per cent people control 60 per cent of the nation’s wealth. The country is indeed run by just four people," author Arundhati Roy said in an exclusive conversation with ETV Bharat.

Patna (Bihar):Author and social activist Arundhati Roy on Friday said left political parties in the country do not understand casteism, which is apparently enervating their competency as an alliance in the national political scenario. Further claiming that only four people are running the country today, Roy stressed on the need for forging an 'anti-fascist' grouping of opposition parties.

"Until the leftists, liberals fighting against capitalism do not understand the caste system, and those fighting against caste do not understand liberalism, all the battles they are fighting will remain confined to one place. Fascism will climb over them and dominate -- like it it is doing today in India," the Booker prize-winning author said while speaking exclusively to ETV Bharat during the 11th convention of the CPI(ML) Liberation held in Patna on Friday.

Roy opined that though the alliance of left parties in Bihar seems like ray of hope as the Assembly elections in the state approach, it needs to be ensured that alliance is not just scenical but also thoughtful. "I am rooting for the left alliance to be effective in Bihar during the 2024 Assembly elections. I came here with such enthusiasm because I was told that Nitish and Tejaswi will also be here. But this should not just be a scenical alliance, it needs to be a thoughtful one," she said.

Earlier, while addressing the convention, Roy said the entire country is run by just four people. "Two of them happen to be buyers and the rest two are sellers. All of them belong to Gujarat," the writer said, taking a subtle but direct dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and industrialists Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani.

Adding later to her statement while speaking privately to ETV Bharat, Roy said, "I am not just saying this because I think so. I know it to be true and I have laid down all the statistics. I have explained how a group of 21 powerful people in India have more wealth than 30 crores common people combined. Five per cent people control 60 per cent of the nation’s wealth. I told all about the Adanis, the ports they own, the wealth they have. The country is indeed run by just four people."

Roy also slated the Prime Minister against the backdrop of the Adani-Hindenburg scam during the convention. "He (PM Modi) thinks he need not speak about Adani, since the common people should remain ever thankful to him for five kilograms of ration. But the Hindenburg report speaks about a scam involving 100 billion dollars. It is the biggest corporate scam in the country”.

Referring to the recent raids conducted at the BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai yesterday, Roy pointed out that no raids were ever conducted on properties owned by Adani, but BBC is paying the price for bringing to the fore the truth behind the Gujarat riots of 2002. She further questioned the “silence of US and UK” over the Income Tax department’s action against the international broadcaster.

Roy was in the Bihar capital for the convention held at the Sri Krishna Memorial Hall in Patna, which is a part of the multi-party ‘Mahagathbandhan’ but supports the Nitish Kumar government in the state from outside. The three-day CPI(ML) Liberation party Congress, which was inaugurated on Thursday, will conclude on Saturday.