Left parties protest arrest of Setalvad and Sreekumar, demand their release

Left parties protest arrest of Setalvad and Sreekumar, demand their release Indian Express

27, Jun 2022

While a DCB team detained Sreekumar after serving summons at his residence in Gandhinagar on Saturday afternoon, Setalvad was detained around the same time from her Mumbai residence.

R B Sreekumar and Teesta Setalvad have been arrested. (File/PTI photo)

Left Front leaders and workers took to the streets in the state on Sunday protesting the arrest of civil rights activist Teesta Setalvad and former Gujarat DGP RB Sreekumar. Led by CPIM, they held a massive protest rally from Park Circus to Entally market here, demanding their immediate release and withdrawal of all “false charges” against them.

In a statement issued here, Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) general secretary Himagnaraj Bhattacharya said, “Renowned human rights activist Teesta Setlavad and former DGP RB Sreekumar, who dared to expose the acts of the Sangh Parivar and the BJP government during the 2002 Gujarat riots, are now being targetted by the state machinery. False charges were imposed on them and they were taken into custody. This is nothing but revenge politics being waged by the Sanghparivar against its opponents. The example of Sanjeev Bhatt, a civil servant, a whistle-blower, is right in front of us. The arrests are in continuation with repressive actions.”

“DYFI Central Executive Committee condemns the arrest and demands their immediate release and withdrawal of all false charges imposed on them. We stand against the use of state machinery for political gains and seeking revenge. We also request the people of the country, who believe in democratic values, to come together against this sheer injustice and rise in protest.” added Bhattacharya.

Revolutionary Socialist Party (India) general secretary Manoj Bhattacharya said, “The RSS-BJP combine has once again demonstrated that the state, as on this day, is abominably intolerant and aggressive in avenging anyone they doubt to disagree with their nefarious designs. The Revolutionary Socialist Party is shocked and expresses its condemnation of the fascistic act of arresting the noted social worker Teesta Setalvad since she advanced the years-long fight for justice to the victims of the state-sponsored genocide in 2002 in Gujarat.” The Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) also protested the arrests across the state.

The CPIML Central Committee said, “We salute the courage of Zakia Jafri, Teesta Setalvad, R.B. Shreekumar and others who did not falter in their pursuit of justice even when Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister. It does not augur well for a democracy when the Supreme Court inexplicably criminalises this pursuit of justice and calls for every person involved need to be in the dock and proceeded in accordance with the law. Their arrest is a product of the vindictiveness of PM Modi and Home Minister (Amit) Shah, enabled by the apex court of India.”

A day after the Supreme Court upheld the SIT’s clean chit in the 2002 riots to the then Gujarat government led by Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the Ahmedabad Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) arrested retired state DGP R B Sreekumar, whose role had been called into question by the Court, and Mumbai-based activist Teesta Setalvad, who supported the petitioner, Zakia Jafri.

The two were held on charges of criminal conspiracy, forgery and other Sections of the IPC based on an FIR lodged in the DCB by Inspector Darshansinh Barad, which quotes extensively from the Supreme Court order. Also named in the nine-page FIR, filed on behalf of the Gujarat state, is former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who also faced strictures in the Supreme Court order. Bhatt is already in jail in connection with another case.

The original piece may be read here

Tags:

#cpi #free-teesta #gujarat-2002 #gulberg-society #rb_sreekumar #teesta-setalvad #zakia-jafri-case

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