By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Mumbai: Teesta Setalvad has once again accused the Gujarat Government of vindictive attitude and harassment after the latest round of controversy surrounding the running of media outlets, she is associated with. The state government is pressurizing the Home Ministry on the issue of FCRA, she alleged.
Shunning all allegations, Setalvad said, “Work that we do and have done(be it secular education, documentation, dissemination of information or legal aid to the survivors of mass crimes (2002), these activities strengthen the rule of law, the Constitution and the fundamentals on which this nation was founded. Yet these activities are being viciously dubbed anti-state and anti-national.”
Teesta Setalvad
She said that they are not against fair probe and have submitted themselves to inspection “despite being fully aware that this is a fishy and vindictive inquiry.”
Setalvad believes that this is a targeted witch hunt to build up a “nasty campaign” as their bail hearing comes up before a 3 member bench next week (Tuesday April 21, 2015).
Setalvad, 53 and her husband Javed Anand, both journalists-turned activists, are facing possible arrest in a case of alleged misappropriation of fund of around Rs.15 million collected through their NGO Sabrang Trust, for setting up a museum at the Gulbarga Society in Ahmedabad where around 69 people were killed during the communal conflagration.
The complaint against Setalvad was filed by 12 residents of the society after the plans for the proposed museum were put in cold storage citing various issues. However, Setalvad has termed the allegations as “politically motivated”.
Latest controversy involves allegations of setting up of media outlets from the donations of Ford Foundation.
Urging for solidarity and united fight, Setalvad wrote on her Facebook (slightly edited):
First it was “Kidnapping of Zahira Shaikh” till SC Registrar report found that unaccounted money had found itself into her account and Madhu Srivastava BJP MLA refused to give voice test samples to the SC (who is above the law) (2005).
Then it was “Tutoring of Witnesses” (Sardarpura, Naroda Patia and Gaam) a la Raees Khan Pathan till Spl Courts Sardarpura, Naroda Patia conclusively held there was no tutoring (other trials are still on (2011,2012).
Attempts to arrest me were there here too but the SC has stayed Investigations
Then it was “digging up mass graves” in Lunawada when I was hundreds of kilometres away after I was illegally “added” as an accused 5 years (2011) after the FIR was lodged (2006) a la Raees Khan Pathan via Gujarat Police via Ravi Shankar Prasad (he appeared in the case in the SC).
Attempts to arrest me were there here too but the SC has stayed Investigations.