Arundhati Roy Vs. Lonely Planet India

On the 2002 Gujarat massacre

Lonely Planet says:

“Congress was mainly in control of Gujarat after Independence, till 1991 when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power. In 2002, communal violence erupted after a Muslim mob was blamed for an arson attack on a train at Godhra that killed 59 Hindu activists. Hindu gangs then set upon Muslims in revenge. This violence coincided with the beginning of the election campaign, and BJP Chief Minister Narendra Modi followed a policy of fiercely Hindu rhetoric, which may have encouraged division in the state, but brought him a landslide victory. Since the 2002 riots, however, the state has been peaceful, and continues to enjoy its reputation as one of India's most prosperous states. In late 2008 this progressive state secured the large and lucrative Tata Motors' Nano car project.” (p. 727)

Arundhati Roy says:

“That the BJP has struck roots in states like Karnataka and Gujarat, both frontrunners in the globalization project, once again illustrates the organic relationship between ‘Union’ and ‘Progress’. Or, if you like, between Fascism and the Free Market.

In January 2009 that relationship was sealed with a kiss at a public function. The CEOs of two of India’s biggest corporations, Ratan Tata (of the Tata Group) and Mukesh Ambani (of Reliance Industries), while accepting the Gujarat Garima—Pride of Gujarat—award, celebrated the development policies of Narendra Modi, architect of the Gujarat genocide, and warmly endorsed him as a future candidate for prime minister.” (p. xxii)

On the IT industry and 'success'

Lonely Planet says:

“Despite the collective pros and cons, there is no doubt that IT will go down in history as one of India's great success stories.” (p.67)

Arundhati Roy says (in the voice of George Bush):

“In return for Bill Gates' millions the Innian government buys hundreds of millions of dollars worth of computer technology from him. He's so rich I'm afraid he might burst. I always wear an apron when I'm around him.” (p.112)

On agriculture and 'basic Malthusian truths'

Lonely Planet says:

“Between 11% and 27% of India's agricultural output is lost due to soil degradation from over-farming, rising soil-salinity, loss of tree cover and poor irrigation. The human cost is heart-rending, and lurking behind all these problems is a basic Malthusian truth: there are too many people for India to support at its current level of development.” (p.102)

Arundhati Roy says:

“The regime of Free Market economic policies, administered by people who are blissfully ignorant of the fate of civilizations that grew too dependent on artificial irrigation, has led to a worrying shift in cropping patterns. Sustainable food crops, suitable to local soil conditions and micro-climates, have been replaced by water-guzzling, hybrid and genetically modified 'cash' crops which, apart from being wholly dependent on the market, are also heavily dependent on chemical fertilizers, pesticides, canal irrigation and the indiscriminate mining of ground water. As abused farmland, saturated with chemicals, gradually becomes exhausted and infertile, agricultural input costs rise, ensnaring small farmers in a debt trap. Over the last few years, more than 180,000 Indian farmers have committed suicide. While state granaries are bursting with food, that eventually rots, starvation and malnutrition approaching the same levels as in sub-Saharan Africa stalk the land." (xvi)

All Arundhati Roy quotations are from the essay collection Listening to Grasshoppers: Field Notes on Democracy (Penguin, 2009). All Lonely Planet quotations are from the 13th edition of the India guide (2009). I just spent five weeks in northern India with both books.