Civil society members, opposition leaders stage protest against arrest of Teesta Setalvad by Gujarat Police

Close to 200 students, teachers and civil society members assembled at Jantar Mantar in the national Capital on Monday to stage a protest against the arrest of Teesta Setalvad by the Gujarat Police. Senior Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Ajay Maken too joined the protest.

The protestors demanded the release of Teesta Setalvad and former IPS officer RB Sreekumar, who have been accused of “criminal conspiracy, forgery and placing false evidence in court to frame innocent people” in the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Congress leader Maken said Congress stands by Teesta and all those who have been arrested, while demanding their release. “Congress is standing with all the Opposition parties who are standing in solidarity with Teesta Setalvad. We are against her arrest. This government is arresting everyone who is raising a voice against it. It is the right of every citizen to highlight the wrongdoings of the government in power,” underscored Ajay Maken, Congress general secretary.

A day after the Supreme Court upheld the clean chit given by the SIT to then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 Gujarat riots and simultaneously questioned the role of the retired state DGP RB Sreekumar and Mumbai-based activist Teesta Setalvad, who backed the petitioner, Zakia Jafri, the Ahmedabad Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) arrested both of them.

They were arrested under IPC Sections of 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 468 (forgery), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), 194 (giving or fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction of capital offence, 211 (false charge of offence made with intent to injure), and 218 (public servant framing incorrect record or writing with intent to save person from punishment or property from forfeiture).

All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) leader Maimoona Mollah called the arrests an attack on democracy. “We are heading in a dangerous direction. Those who protest and go against the government are being considered guilty by the current dispensation and every attempt will be made to trap you in cases. The judiciary is also playing to the gallery,” said Mollah.

“This particular verdict which has come from the Supreme Court has given a jolt to the conscience of the entire country. What it means for people like me is that the apex court is saying ‘do not come to us for justice’. It has also said we are capable of turning a pleader into accused, and has also said if under the leadership of the CM a carnage is organised then the political party, the government machinery and the perpetrators would be safe. If you stand by a Muslim victim like Zakia Jafri then you will be punished, like Teesta Setalvad and Sreekumar,” said Gauhar Raza, social activist and scientist.

Delhi state committee member of Liberation’s All India Central Council of Trade Unions Sucheta De said that history will ask who these judges were who refused to entertain the plea of the victim in the 2002 Gujarat riots.

While condemning the arrest of activist Teesta Setalvad, the Working Group on Human Rights in India and the UN (WGHR) on Monday, June 27, 2022, called for her immediate release. The organisation, of which Setalvad is a member, called for the release of the former DGP of Gujarat RB Sreekumar, and suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who along with Setalvad are named in a First Information Report for alleged fabrication of evidence in the 2002 Gujarat riots case.

“The systematic targeting of human rights defenders by the Indian State must stop. We are deeply concerned by the arrest of Teesta Setalvad as it reflects an aggressive abuse of power and law by the State machinery, in grave breach of the rights and freedoms guaranteed to citizens under the Indian Constitution,” the organisation said in its statement.

Supporting Setalvad, Delhi University professor Apoorvanand said the quest for justice has been criminalied. “It is the lowest point for judiciary. As it is the government doesn’t look favourably on the minorities and the marginalised sections of the society. With this ruling, the court has effectively said that they cannot fight for justice. This order will have a chilling effect and it is inexcusable how the Supreme Court has handled it,” added Apoorvanand.

Adding to it, human rights activist Bezwada Wilson underscored that the judiciary has stopped the fight for justice and the ruling is against the process of natural justice.

The National Alliance of Journalists (NAJ) and the Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) has also unequivocally condemned the motivated, hasty arrest of journalist and activist Teesta Setalvad, just a day after a Supreme Court judgment. Demanding her immediate release, they have called upon members to be ready for a protest action in solidarity.