Author and social activist Arundhati Roy has apologised for her comments regarding the Indian and Pakistani army in 2011.
Roy, in a statement to ThePrint, explained that what she had said back then did not represent her current opinions.
In a video, she had spoken about Indian troops that are stationed in the areas like Jammu and Kashmir, Telangana and the North East.
She said that Pakistan had not stationed troops “against its own people the way India has”.
She claimed that people sometimes unintentionally say something “thoughtless or stupid” at some point in their lives.
“This tiny clip of video in no way represents what I believe, or indeed what I have written over the years,” she said.
She added: “Still, It is a matter of enormous consequence and I apologize for any momentary confusion the clip may have caused.”
The writer blamed right-wing supporters for digging up the video to stifle her opinions on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. “Given my views on what is happening in Kashmir now, it is not surprising that Hindu Nationalists are rushing to generate outrage over this exciting new/old canard they have dug up about my supposed denial of the genocide in Bangladesh and the deeds of the Pakistan Army in Pakistan,” Roy said.
Arundhati Roy has faced massive criticism after her video from 2011 recently went viral, and got accused of “supporting the Pakistani army”.
Shama Mohamed, who is also a member of Congress, accused Arundhati Roy of speaking out “only after her comments went viral”.
“While I am glad that Arundhati Roy apologised for her offensive comments about India, it is unfortunate that despite having years to express regret, she chose to do it only after there was widespread outrage when my tweet about her comments went viral”, she wrote on Twitter.
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