Controversies
After the release of "The Doctor and The Saint" by Navayana, several anti-caste activists rejected her introduction to the book. They argued that Arundhati Roy had misrepresented Ambedkar's views on eugenics, tribal issues, capitalism, among other issues, for marketing purposes. At the time, Dalit Camera released interviews on their YouTube channel and an open letter to Arundhati Roy, clarifying rumours that threats from Dalit activists had been the reason for the stalling of a book launch in Hyderabad. In the letter, they make it clear that activists had only been prepared with several questions for Roy, and also attach the list of questions for her. Both the letter by Dalit Camera and Roy's response have been published in Hatred in the Belly.
In 2014, Ambedkar Age Collective (published by The Shared Mirror publishing house) released the book Hatred In The Belly critiquing the introduction to "The Doctor and the Saint" by Arundhati Roy. The title of the book is from a Telugu phrase that the poet Joopaku Subhadra uses in his essay, "Ka dapulo kasi". In this collection of essays & speeches by various Dalit activists and scholars, the authors write a scathing critique of how the introduction does not do justice to the seminal book that is Annihilation of Caste. Ambedkar Age Collective writes about the book that it will "unfurl before you a critical tapestry dissecting the hegemonic brahminic discourse which works towards delegitimizing the radical legacy of Ambedkarite thought". The larger criticism against the book and Navayana was that they did not consult experts of anti-caste narratives in writing the introduction to Annihilation of Caste, and questioned Roy's claim to expertise on the matter. The various authors included in the book are: Bojja Tharakam, Adv. Dr. Suresh Mane, Anoop Kumar, U. Sambashiva Rao, Sunny Kapicadu, K. K. Baburaj, Joopaka Subhadra, Dr. K. Satyanarayana, Anu Ramdas, Kuffir, Gurinder Azad, Shakyamuni, Dr. Sangeeta Pawar, Dr. O. K. Santhosh, Dr. B. Ravichandran, Dalit Camera: Through Un-Touchable Eyes, Karthik Navayan, Vaibhav Wasnik, Nilesh Kumar, Asha Kowtal, Nidhin Shobhana, Gee Imaan Semmalar, Syam Sundar, Murali Shanmugavelan, Praveena Thaali, Dr Karthick RM, Huma Dar, Joby Mathew, James Michael, Akshay Pathak, Vinay Bhat, Yogesh Maitreya, Thongam Bipin, Sruthi Herbert, Gaurav Somwanshi, Kadhiravan, Rahul Gaikwad, Joe D'Cruz.
