India police to investigate Roy over Kashmir remarks
Appeal in court accuses Roy of sedition for saying that Kashmir is not an integral part of India.
NEW DELHI:
An Indian court ordered police on Saturday to investigate whether award-winning author
Arundhati Roy could be tried for sedition over her comments about Kashmir.
In an appeal to a local court, Sushil Pandit, a private citizen, accused Roy of sedition for saying that Kashmir was not an integral part of India at a seminar in New Delhi last month.
"The court decided to instruct the police to register a proper (complaint), investigate the crime and report back by 6th of January," Pandit told reporters.
Roy, a fierce critic of India's policy in Indian Held Kashmir, will be investigated alongside Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and five other people, according to the petitioner's lawyer and police.
"This is a ploy to distract attention from the real issue,"Roy, winner of the 1997 Booker Prize for "The God of Small Things", told CNN-IBN television.
Police confirmed they had receiced a court order to investigate the case.
Speaking to Reuters in Srinagar, Geelani said he was aware of the case.
"This is nothing new for me. There are already dozens of cases against me," he said.
Violent anti-government protests have swept Indian Held Kashmir since June, killing more than 110 people.
An Indian court ordered police on Saturday to investigate whether award-winning author
Arundhati Roy could be tried for sedition over her comments about Kashmir.
In an appeal to a local court, Sushil Pandit, a private citizen, accused Roy of sedition for saying that Kashmir was not an integral part of India at a seminar in New Delhi last month.
"The court decided to instruct the police to register a proper (complaint), investigate the crime and report back by 6th of January," Pandit told reporters.
Roy, a fierce critic of India's policy in Indian Held Kashmir, will be investigated alongside Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and five other people, according to the petitioner's lawyer and police.
"This is a ploy to distract attention from the real issue,"Roy, winner of the 1997 Booker Prize for "The God of Small Things", told CNN-IBN television.
Police confirmed they had receiced a court order to investigate the case.
Speaking to Reuters in Srinagar, Geelani said he was aware of the case.
"This is nothing new for me. There are already dozens of cases against me," he said.
Violent anti-government protests have swept Indian Held Kashmir since June, killing more than 110 people.