Booker Prize-winning Indian novelist Arundhati Roy’s talk at the photography festival Chobi Mela has been held.
Following a daylong uncertainty, the event titled ‘Utmost Everything’ was finally held at the Midas Center auditorium at the capital’s Dhanmondi on Tuesday (Mar 5).
The discussion was supposed to be held in Krishibid Institute, Bangladesh auditorium at the city’s Farmgate, which was moved to the new venue after police vetoed it.
In a Facebook post, at the wee hours of Tuesday, the Chobi Mela said that the talks were cancelled as the police have withdrawn its permission citing “unavoidable circumstances”.
Speaking to Bangla Tribune, Tejgaon Police Station OC Mazharul Islam too cited unavoidable circumstances for cancelling its previous clearance.
Around 12:32pm, Chobi Mela announced that the event would be held on the 12th floor of Midas Centre at 6pm, and Arundhati Roy will speak at the discussion with the literature lovers.
Later in the afternoon, authorities at the Midas Centre reportedly cancelled the booking too, citing “unavoidable circumstances” and requesting the organizers to secure permission from “the Dhaka metropolitan authority” for the event.
After several hours of confusion, it was confirmed that the event will indeed take place at the convention centre there and the people waiting eagerly outside the venue were allowed to enter.
The discussion was hosted by Shahidul Alam, the internationally acclaimed photographer who founded Drik Picture Library Ltd and Pathshala South Asian Media Institute.
Photography festival Chobi Mela is a venture jointly initiated by Drik and Pathshala.
At the beginning of the discussion, he asked Arundhati Roy why she was here.
“Because of you and because of all of you,” is what the award-winning writer replied.
Moving on with the conversation, Roy read passages from her first fiction “The God of Small Things” and her first political essay “The End of Imagination.”
Roy also shared how she walked away from fame after winning the Man Booker Prize and became involved in political protests instead.