Arundhati Roy prompts outrage with call for 'truth' about Mahatma Gandhi
Booker winner prompts anger with claim that doctrine of nonviolence accepted caste system
Arundhati Roy, the Booker Prize winning author, has accused Mahatma Gandhi of discrimination and called for institutions bearing his name to be renamed.
Speaking at Kerala University in the southern Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram, Roy, 52, described the generally accepted image of Gandhi as a lie.
"It is time to unveil a few truths about a person whose doctrine of nonviolence was based on the acceptance of the most brutal social hierarchy ever known, the caste system ... Do we really need to name our universities after him?" Roy said.
The caste system is thousands of years old but still defines the status of hundreds of millions of people in India. So-called untouchables, or Dalits, continue to suffer discrimination.
The author's comments provoked immediate outrage from descendants and some scepticism from historians.
"Being outspoken is one thing but being so blasé about your ignorance is quite another," said Tushar Gandhi, Mahatma's great-grandson. "It's just an attempt to get publicity."
Professor Mridula Mukherjee, an expert in modern Indian history at Jawaharlal University in Delhi, said Roy's criticism was misplaced.