Press Statement In Solidarity with Teesta Setalvad & her comrades; Condemn Vengeful Actions of Gujarat Government // SAHMAT: Revenge is the only motive of the vindictive Modi government

We, the undersigned express our deep shock at the rejection of the anticipatory bail application of Teesta  Setalvad and four others in what is being called the Gulberg Embezzlement Case, by the City sessions court of Ahmedabad. From its beginning, the so-called embezzlement has been the concoction of elements instigated by the state government of Gujarat, including the Gujarat Crime Branch. In January 2014, an FIR was registered against the five accused for defrauding the members of the Gulberg Society of funds meant for the building of the Gulberg Memorial commemorating the state sponsored carnage.

 

It may be in order to recall the facts of the case, especially, since a section of the media is spreading canards that the funds thus raised were used for buying jewellery, wine and such like, and gloating over the possibility of the arrest of Teesta Setalvad and others.

First, the complainant in the case, Feroze Khan, had forged the letterhead of the Gulberg Society to file the complaint. A written complaint to this effect was sent to the Crime Branch, Ahmedabad Police by the office bearers of the Gulberg Society.

 

Second, as early as in March 2013, when the allegations first surfaced, the Centre for Justice and Peace and Sabrang Trust, had provided satisfactory explanation to the Crime Branch and investigation had been dropped. CJP had clarified that at no point had it collected any amount or money or land from any person residing at or claiming to be part of Gulberg society. CJP and Sabrang issued a public affidavit which showed that only Rs 4.5 lakhs had been collected for the proposed museum, of which Rs 50,000 was from foreign sources – but as the land prices spiraled, the dream for a memorial was abandoned. Its audited accounts and resolutions passed in the society proved as much.

 

Third, months after the investigation had been closed, the complaint was revived and the FIR registered in January 2014, as CJP was preparing for the filing of Smt. Zakia Jafri’s protest petition. It was a blatant move to jeopardize and demoralize the petitioners by the Gujarat government.

 

Fourth, two of the co-accused in the case are survivors of the terrible massacre in Gulberg Society in February 2002: Salimbhai Sandhi who lost five family members including his son Mohammed; and Firoz Gulzar Pathan who also lost five from his family. The third co-accused is Tanvir Jafri, son of the former MP, Ehsan Jafri, who was also hacked and burnt to death in the massacre.

There can be little doubt that this FIR is part of a long series of vindictive actions undertaken by the vengeful Gujarat government – fraudulent cases have been filed earlier too – to teach Teesta Setalvad and CJP a ‘lesson’ for continuing the struggle for justice. We are disappointed that the sessions court has chosen to reject the anticipatory bail applications, thus making their arrests imminent.

In extending our heartfelt solidarity with Teesta Setalvad and other friends today, we reiterate our commitment to sharpen the struggle to preserve the values of democracy, secularism and justice.  

 

Sd/--

Anuradha Chenoy, Academic, JNU

Adeel Mehdi, Academic, Delhi

Anil Thayarath Varghese, Delhi Solidarity Group

Ahmed Sohaib, Academic, Delhi

Ania Loomba, Academic, USA

A Faizur Rehman, the Moderates forum

Amit Sengupta, Senior Journalist, Delhi

Anuradha Banerji

Anusha Rizvi, Filmmaker, Delhi

Apoorvanand, Professor, University of Delhi.

Arshad Ajmal, Activist, Patna

Asad Ashraf, Jamia Students Solidarity Forum, Delhi

D. Gabriele, Pennurimai Iyakkam

Deepti, Saheli Women’s Resource Centre, Delhi

Farhathullah Khan, Chennai

Gautam Bhan, writer and activist, Delhi

Ghazi Shahnawaz, Academic, Delhi

Ghulam Mohiyuddin

Harsh Kapoor, Activist, Delhi

Harsh Mander, Activist& Writer, Delhi

Ilina Sen, Academic, Mumbai

J.S. Bandukwala, Academic, Gujarat

Janaki Srinivasan, Panjab University, Chandigarh

Javed Naqvi, Senior Journalist, Delhi

Jaya Sharma, Independent trainer, researcher and activist, Delhi

John Dayal, Member, National Integration Council, Delhi

Juhi Jain, Feminist activist and writer, Delhi

Kamal Mitra Chenoy, Academic, JNU, Delhi

K.M. Sreemali, Historian, Delhi

Kamayani Mahabal, Activist and Lawyer, Mumbai

Kavita Srivastava, National Secretary, PUCL

Kiran Bhatty, Academic, Delhi

Kiran Shaheen, Activist, Delhi

Kriti, Activist, Delhi

Kumar Sundaram, Anti Nuke Activist, Delhi

Lesley A Esteves, Queer Rights Activist, Delhi

Mahtab Alam, Activist, Delhi/ Bangalore

Manisha Sethi, Academic, Delhi

Mansi Sharma, Activist, Delhi

Mayur Suresh, Advocate and legal researcher, Delhi/ London.

Mario da Penha, Historian, Mumbai

Mohammad Imran

Mona Das, Academic, University of Delhi

M. Reyaz, Journalist, Delhi

Mubasshir Mushtaq, freelance journalist, Malegaon

Nabanipa Bhattacharjee, Academic, Delhi

Nandini Rao, Activist, New Delhi

Noor Enayat, Brand Consultant, Delhi

Ovais Sultan Khan, Activist, Delhi

Pramada Menon, Delhi

Ponni Arasu, Chennai

Praveen Kumar, Satyawati College, University of Delhi.

Pervez Bari, Journalist, Bhopal

Pushpa, WSS-Karnataka

Purwa Bharadwaj, Delhi

Rahul Govind, Academic, University of Delhi

Ram Puniyani, writer and activist, Mumbai

Rama Srinivasan, Research Scholar, Providence

Rohini Hensman, writer and activist, Mumbai

Rituparna Borah, Queer Feminist Activist, New Delhi

Rohit Prajapati, Activist, Gujarat

Sadhna Arya, University of Delhi

Sanghamitra Misra, Academic, University of Delhi

Satnam, Saheli Women’s Resource Centre

Shabnam Hashmi, ANHAD, Delhi

S.Q. Maqsood, Activist, Hyderabad

Sumathi Sudhakar, Writer, Chennai

Shipra Nigam, Consultant Economist, Delhi

Shohini Ghosh, Academic and Filmmaker, Delhi

Subhash Ghatade, Writer and Activist, Delhi

Sukla Sen, EKTA, (Committee for Communal Amity), Mumbai

Sunalini Kumar, Academic, Delhi

Tanweer Fazal, Academic, JNU

Trideep Pais, Advocate, Delhi

Trupti Shah, Activist, Gujarat

Uma V. Chandru, Member, WSS National Campaign

Uma Chakravarti, Historian and activist, Delhi

Vani Subrahmaniam, Saheli Women’s Resource Centre

Varsha Mehta, Consultant, Forestry and Rural Livelihoods, New Delhi/ Ahmedabad

Vineet Tiwari, Sandarbh, Indore

Wilfred D Costa, INSAF, Delhi

Zafarullah Khan, Advocate, Chennai

Zaheer Ahmed Sayeed, Neurologist, Chennai

Zuleikha Jabeen, Activist, Delhi

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Press Statement In Support of Teesta Setalvad and others

Revenge is the only motive of the vindictive Modi government 

We are shocked and outraged by the continuing attempt of the highly vindictive Modi government and the Gujarat police to somehow implicate activists Teesta Setalvad and Javed Anand, along with three victim-survivors of the state-sponsored Gujarat carnage in 2002 on patently trumped-up charges.

This is nothing but a desperate bid to delay or derail the justice process, in particular Zakia Jafri’s appeal which is now before the Gujarat High Court. Mrs. Jafri has accused Gujarat chief minister and home minister, Narendra Modi along with 59 other top politicians, police officers and civil servants of conspiracy for mass murder and other serious criminal offences.

It is significant that the Supreme Court appointed amicus curiae in the case, Mr. Raju Ramachandran, has told the apex court there was enough prima facie evidence to prosecute Modi.

Teesta Setalvad and Javed Anand are being especially targeted as they are among the founder members of Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) and have been at the forefront of the struggle for justice for the victims-survivors of the Gujarat pogrom.

Equally condemnable is the hounding in the same alleged “cheating” case, of three office bearers of Gulberg Housing Society, Ahmedabad, each of whom lost several family members when police watched as frenzied mobs attacked their colony on February 27, 2002. Among them is Tanvir Jafri whose father and former Congress MP, Ehsan Jafri was mercilessly butchered along with 68 others.

CJP is today nationally and internationally recognised and respected for the sustained efforts of its team of lawyers resulting in 117 of the perpetrators being given life sentences by the trial courts. Among them is former BJP MLA and minister in Modi cabinet Maya Kodnani and Gujarat’s Bajrang Dal leader, Babu Bajrangi for their role in the Naroda Patiya massacre.

Teesta Setalvad and Javed Anand have already filed affidavits in the courts, rebutting each and every charge in detail. What’s more, they have accused the Gujarat police of spreading falsehood through affidavits filed in court.

The latest malicious move of the Modi government and the Gujarat police is a clear indicator that revenge is the shape of things to come. As citizens committed to the Rule of Law, we denounce the vengeful action of the Modi government and the Gujarat police, and demand immediate withdrawal of the motivated and baseless FIR against Teesta Setalvad, Javed Anand, Tanvir Jafri and the office-bearers of the Gulberg  Society.

Romila Thapar                          Rooprekha Verma                         Sashi Kumar

C.P. Chandrasekhar                 Prabhat Patnaik                        Anil Bhatti

Archana Prasad                        Vivan Sundaram                       Ram Rahman   

Madangopal Singh                    M.K. Raina                              Ajeet Caur                  

Irfan Habib                               Githa Hariharan                        Gitanjali Shree

Indira Chandrasekhar               Jasodhra Bagchi                       Jagmati Sangwan

K.M. Shrimali                           Sudhir Chandra                        Shireen Moosvi

Sohail Hashmi                           Amiya Kumar Bagchi                Aditya Nigam                          

Ajith Pillai                                 Ali N. Rizavi                             Amar Farooqui

Amit Sen Gupta                        Anil Chandra                            Anuradha Chenoy                    

Arjun Dev                                Arpana Caur                            Asad Zaidi

B.P. Sahu                                 Badri Raina                              Biswamoy Pati

D.N. Jha                                  E. Somanathan                          Faizan Haider Naqvi

Geeta Kapur                            Ghayur Alam                            Indira Arjun Dev

Iqtidar Alam Khan                    Ishrat Alam                               Jauhar Kanungo

Jayati Ghosh                             Kamal Mitra Chenoy                Kesavan Veluthat

Keval Arora                             Kumar Shahani                         Lata Singh

Lima kanungo                           Madhu Prasad                          Zoya Hasan

Madhusree Dutta                      Malini Bhattacharya                  Mihir Bhattacharya

MMP Singh                              Mohan Rao                              Moloyashree Hashmi

N.K. Sharma                            Najaf Haider                            Nalini Taneja

Nandakumar                            Navjot Altaf                             Nikhil Kumar

Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay           Nilima Sheikh                           Mrinalini Mukherjee
Parthiv Shah                             Nivedita Menon                        Utsa Patnaik    

Prabhat Shukla                         Pradeep Saxena                       Praful Bidwai

R.C. Thakran                           Rahul Verma                            Rajendra Prasad

Rakhshanda Jalil                       Zafar Agha                               Ramesh Rawat

Rebecca Kurian                        Rekha Awasthi                          S. Kalidas

S.Z.H. Jafri                               Saba Hasan                              Sashi Kumar

Shakti Kak                               Shamim Akhtar                         Shamshad

Shikha Ghosh                           Wasi Haider                             Shohini Ghosh

Sukumar Muralidharan             V. Ramakrishna