Raise your voice against arrest of human rights activist Teesta Setalvad: AFDR Punjab

BATHINDA: Association for Democratic Rights (AFDR) Punjab has strongly condemned the arrest of journalist and rights activist Teesta Seetalvad terming it unjustified and unfair. AFDR Punjab while demanded her release has urged the democratic forces to raise their voice against this blatant attack on an individual's freedom.
Legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh's nephew and AFDR Punjab President Prof Jagmohan Singh and General Secretary Pritpal Singh Bathinda on Tuesday said that to muzzle every voice of dissent, the central government has adopted repressive approach.For furtherance of this agenda, government has arrested Teesta Setalvad and retired DGP of Gujrat police RB Kumar.
They said in an appeal filed in Supreme court by Zakia Jafri against Gujrat High court judgement, Teesta was co-petitioner. Rejecting the appeal, the Supreme court had on June 24 made some observations which were used in arresting her.
Teesta in the appeal had wrote when her criminal complaint into the Gujarat killings of 2002 was filed on June 8, 2006–accompanied by 2,000 pages of evidence, provided by serving police officers and administrators –we were aware of the uphill nature of the ask. What we did not anticipate, however, was the resistance, across persuasions, to probing the critical issues raised fairly and transparently.
They also said that in this battle for acknowledgment, justice and accountability behind the well-orchestrated crimes of 2002 in Gujarat, the system today stands subverted by the very process put in place to assess and correct the wrongs.
Sixteen years after many incidents rocked Gujarat, described by the Concerned Citizens Tribunal, Crimes Against Humanity, as an organised crime perpetuated by the state and 12 years after the criminal complaint was filed, Zakia Jafri’s case comes up for hearing before the Supreme Court on November 19. Once again, we will seek to get back to the very basis of the charges raised in the original complaint, it said.
These charges had first been outlined in the June 2006 complaint and thereafter substantiated in the protest petition filed by Zakia Jafri before the magistrate’s court on April 15, 2013.
It said Home minister Amit Shah made scathing statements against Teesta Setalvad when he said that NGO being run by this activist provided baseless information about Gujrat riots and she is instigating Zakia Jafri. He was giving sufficiently clear hints that from now onwards, those activists who have been helping the victims of Gujrat 2002 pogrom would be silenced by putting them behind bars for long periods. People standing with members of minority community against riots would be dealt with iron hand, said the AFDR leaders.
People are feeling desperate and rapidly loosing the little faith they were reposing in our judicial system, they added.
In this case IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt has already been put behind bars because he has filed an affidavit in Supreme court against Narendra Modi regime in riots. Ex-DGP of Gujrat police, RB Kumar was accused of obstructing the policemen from discharging their duties during riots of 2002, stated AFDR.
A retired DGP had reported that ministers were instructing police not to do their duty. Journalist Rana Ayub has very vividly brought out many details of this pogrom in his monumental book 'Gujrat Files'.
Despite all these evidences and facts, SIT gave clean chit to all the 64 accused persons. Zakia Jafri, wife of slain ex congress MP Eshan Jafri challenged this in Supreme court. Teesta and her legal team supported Zakia Jafri steadfastly through out her entire legal fight. That is why she has been made special target and arrested. It is nothing but confirmation of reversal of legal justice system in which complainants are being treated as criminals, it is the same process as is being followed to bulldoze down. The people and democratic activists who dare to stand against this injustice are being attacked, arrested and put behind bars, they said angrily.
Prof Singh said AFDR Punjab gives a call to all the justice lovers, intellectuals, democratic people to rise and unite against this attacks on democratic rights.