G8

India Times: Where Arundhati is goddess of masses
EVIAN: The power of the masses is pitted against the might of the rich as tens of thousands swamp the streets in Switzerland and France in unprecedented protests against the powerful G-8 and all that it has to offer.
In the process, many angry young men and women drawn from all over Europe have found a new icon -- celebrated Indian writer Arundhati Roy -- or so it seems.
For about three days now, Switzerland's border town of Lausanne and Geneva, around 60 km away, has been virtually run over by angry people who feel the industrialised West that controls the G-8 is to blame for much of the world's worsening economic plight.
Protests have also taken place in this scenic and otherwise quiet Alpine resort at the edge of Lake Geneva, which divides it from Switzerland. And it is clear from comments on the street that anger against G-8, and in particular against big brother US, runs very deep.
After an estimated 100,000 people besieged Geneva Sunday, as leaders of the G-8 and about a dozen Third World countries made their way to France, there was no doubting that globalisation had become a bad word.
"There have never been such big protests in Geneva," Stephane Bussard, a journalist with the Swiss newspaper Le Temps said. "It was massive, it was quite an important turnout."
Remarked Jacques Nikonoff, president of the anti-globalisation group Attack: "The G-8 is illegitimate and its policies are harmful to the people of the planet. We have to get rid of it."
This is where Arundhati Roy, author of the award winning God of Small Things, comes in.
Arundhati, who lives in New Delhi and is a writer who passionately campaigns against big dams, nuclear weapons and corporate globalisation, is a must read for many protestors.
Her writings and comments figure prominently in websites sought out by anti-G-8 campaigners. Her writings are ammunition that provides oxygen to those who battle what they say is militaristic, neo-liberal capitalism.
The angry marchers in Geneva, Lausanne and Evian have proved what ordinary people can do if they join hands -- a theme that runs through almost all of Arundhati's writings

"Parts of Lausanne, where delegations attending the G-8 summit and related meetings are staying, look like concentration camps, with the authorities sealing off VVIP zones using concertina wire. The situation has forced Switzerland to deploy some 6,000 troops -- the biggest military deployment since World War II. Many soldiers could be seen flaunting their weapons."

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