Over 100 writers slam JCB literature prize's 'hypocrisy' over bulldozer demolitions

New Delhi: Around a 100 writers and publishers on Thursday came out with an open letter condemning the "deep-rooted hypocrisy" of British bulldozer manufacturer JCB for awarding a literary prize celebrating Indian diversity while remaining complicit when the "uprooting the lives" of marginalised and poor takes place in the country.

The letter released on the eve of the announcement of this year's 'JCB Prize for Literature' on November 23 said the award "cannot wash off the blood" on the manufacturer's hands.

"We condemn the obscuring of violence that this prize stands for," the letter, which also referred to the use of JCBs by Israel against Palestinians, said.

Signatories of the letter included poet-critic K Satchidanandan, poet-novelist Meena Kandasamy, Palestinian novelist Isabella Hammad and poet Rafeef Ziadah, Egyptian novelist Ahdaf Soueif and Iraqi poet and novelist Sinan Antoon.

The letter said the BJP government has consistently used JCB bulldozers in a systemic campaign to demolish Muslim homes, shops and places of worship across various Indian states in an ongoing project disturbingly named 'bulldozer justice'.

"These same bulldozers and backhoe loaders are also responsible for home demolitions and settlement expansion in occupied Palestine, due to a contract between JCB’s agent and the Israeli Ministry of Defence, thus playing a key role in Israel’s continued attempts at ethnic cleansing of Palestinians," it said.

Indian author Siddhartha Deb, who signed the open letter said in a separate statement, "if the JCB Prize is intended to support Indian writing, that means Indian writing is complicit in British racism, Hindu fundamentalism, and Zionist ethnic cleansing."

"Writers need money to carry out their difficult work, but that cannot be at the cost of mass death and suffering. As John Berger put it while pointing out Booker McConnell’s historic roots in slavery, 'Clarity is more important than money'," he added.

The letter is part of an ongoing campaign to stop JCB’s "destructive activities". The demands include JCB ending its relationship with Israeli Ministry of Defence through its sole dealer Comasco, commit to ensuring that its products are not used for human rights violations in India by making compulsory the installation of its existing Live Link technology which allows it to trace and locate their machines, and use it to prevent their use in actions which violate human rights.