"Kashmir has never been an integral part of India".
Roy may face sedition charges

Indian police believe there is a case for charging the Booker Prize-winning author Arundhati Roy with sedition over comments she made about the disputed province of Kashmir, Indian newspapers say.

Reports yesterday said police in Delhi have sought legal opinion about a speech by Roy last week when she said Kashmir has ''never been an integral part of India''. It is not clear if authorities will act on the advice. Roy issued a statement yesterday denying she had done anything wrong.

''This morning's papers say that I may be arrested on charges of sedition for what I have said at recent public meetings … Anybody who cares to read the transcripts of my speeches will see that they were fundamentally a call for justice,'' she said.

Advertisement: Story continues below ''Some have accused me of giving 'hate speeches', of wanting India to break up. On the contrary, what I say comes from love and pride.

''It comes from not wanting people to be killed, raped, imprisoned or have their fingernails pulled out in order to force them to say they are Indians.''