Azadi

Freedom. Fascism. Fiction.

By: Arundhati Roy

Narrated by: Shaheen Khan

From the author of My Seditious Heart and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, a new and pressing dispatch from the heart of the crowd and the solitude of a writer’s desk.

The chant of Azadi! - Urdu for "freedom!" - is the slogan of the freedom struggle in Kashmir against what Kashmiris see as the Indian Occupation. Ironically it has also become the chant of millions on the streets of India against the project of Hindu Nationalism. What lies between these two calls for freedom? A chasm or a bridge?

In this series of penetrating essays on politics and literature, Arundhati Roy examines this question and challenges us to reflect on the meaning of freedom in a world of growing authoritarianism.

Roy writes of the existential threat posed to Indian democracy by an emboldened Hindu nationalism, of the internet shutdown and information siege in Kashmir - the most densely militarized zone in the world - and India's new citizenship laws that discriminate against Muslims and marginalized communities and could create a crisis of statelessness on a scale previously unknown.

©2020 Arundhati Roy (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

Eye opener to all the fascist practices in India

This collection of essays provides a very good overview of the fascistic regime of Modi in India and the atrocities of BJP towards minorities. A lot of this would be unbelievable for folks in India because even the Indian news media is skewed and tries to put Modi in good light when all he's doing are just terrible things, completely against the poor and the marginalized. This also gives some insight into the activists who are working for a good cause in India, which was very helpful.

Narration appears to be a problem with Indian novels all the time. Audible really needs to put a little bit more effort into teaching the narrators the right pronunciation of words. The incorrect pronunciation digresses the listener from the actual matter of the topic and it's a little annoying.

Incredible.....

This is a fascinating depiction of the
disastrous reign on Modi who is the Indian version of trump and other autocrats. Impossible to listen and see the parallels in this country. There is a bit of repetition but I was barely able to pause. Have to reread the authors other writing.... there are still amazing writers out there.

Extreme bias

The author brings up very important issues but then takes extreme positions and offers no tangible solutions- just unmitigated darkness & despair. That’s not how we solve problems.