larmed
at the persistent efforts of the Gujarat state through its police to
derail the justice process by targeting Teesta Setalvad personally,
prominent human rights defenders have announced the formation of the
Committee for the Defence of Teesta Setalvad and Justice in Gujarat,
an initiative launched at a press conference in Mumbai on May 23,
2011. Chaired by a distinguished former judge of the Supreme Court of
India, PB Sawant, the committee has two vice-chairpersons, veteran
Islamic scholar Dr Asghar Ali Engineer and former chief minister of
Gujarat Suresh Mehta; its conveners are advocate Balwant Desai and
social activist Irfan Engineer.
The members of the committee include renowned
academics and historians Romila Thapar, Irfan Habib, Rajmohan Gandhi
and Prabhat Patnaik as well as prominent public figures such as Aruna
Roy, Juzar Bandukwala and Binayak and Ilina Sen.
Speaking at the press conference, Justice Sawant
said: “The malicious and motivated campaign against Teesta and the
lawyers struggling for justice for the victims of the genocide in
Gujarat in 2002 is aimed at distracting the course of justice and
attacking the personal liberties of the human rights activists who
have stood by the course of truth and justice.” Coming down heavily on
the Gujarat government, he observed that what happened and continues
to happen in Gujarat is a “rape of the legal system”.
“In Gujarat today, every constitutional norm is
subverted; there is corruption and intimidation of the most vindictive
kind,” opined former chief minister Suresh Mehta.
“The attack against Teesta Setalvad is
three-pronged, aimed at threatening her personal liberty through
arrest, a widespread disinformation and malicious campaign to affect
the process of justice and distracting her from the demands of the
struggle,” said senior lawyer Mihir Desai, speaking at the launch.
This intimidation comes at a time when finally,
after nine long years, serious allegations against the Gujarat chief
minister, Narendra Modi, of masterminding the criminal conspiracy to
commit mass murder, have reached a pivotal stage. In a path-breaking
development, the Supreme Court of India on May 5, 2011 directed the
amicus curiae to examine all evidence and meet all witnesses and
report back to the court on whether a case exists against the chief
minister and 61 others. Serving and retired Indian Police Service (IPS)
and Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers have testified to the
illegal and unconstitutional instructions given by Narendra Modi on
February 27, 2002 which led to the carnage. In the ensuing days at
least 2,500 people, mostly Muslims, were murdered. Rape and other
terrible acts of violence were committed while the state police and
administration stood by.
In addition to the evidence of high-level
complicity that is being unravelled through the relentless pursuit of
justice, the next six months or year could see the conviction of over
350 accused in the eight major carnage trials being monitored by the
Supreme Court and in which Citizens for Justice and Peace, the
organisation Setalvad represents, has been providing legal aid to
victims and witnesses. The real story of the struggle for justice is
the courage with which survivors have deposed, without fear or favour,
within Gujarat even as the perpetrators walk free on bail.
Prosecution of all those responsible for these
crimes is an essential prerequisite for justice, peace and
reconciliation. It will help guarantee that similar crimes are not
committed in the future. It is this judicial process, set inexorably
in motion by the grit and persistence of the victim survivors, and
supported by Setalvad and her organisation, that the government of
Gujarat is brazenly seeking to thwart through its persecution of
Teesta Setalvad.
Apart from a Facebook presence, more information
can be sourced at http://justice4guj02.blogspot.com/. A US-based
medical practitioner, Dr Bindu Desai, has initiated an online petition
to the president of India, accessible at http://www.petitiononline.com/guj2002/petition.html,
which states: “We follow with increasing concern and dismay events
related to efforts seeking redress for the victims of the carnage in
Gujarat in 2002. We have witnessed the relentless harassment and
intimidation of Teesta Setalvad who has been working tirelessly and
courageously for justice for these victims. She is targeted with
character assassination, false allegations and threats to her personal
security. In a concerted attempt to derail the course of justice, the
government of Gujarat has foisted four false criminal cases against
her. She faces the very real threat of arrest.
“The victims of 2002 have waited far too long for redress and
justice. We urge you therefore to use the powers of your high office
to ensure justice for the victims. We want you to make certain that
the law and the process of justice take their proper course without
being subverted or influenced by vested interests, however powerful.
We demand that the government of Gujarat ceases the harassment and
intimidation of Teesta Setalvad and other human rights defenders.”