Activist Teesta Setalvad urged the Telangana government not to have any truck with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre, and cautioned that it could lead to the party usurping power in the State too.
“Though it is the BJP at the Centre, the ruling force behind it is the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Having alliance with it is like supping with the devil. The party could eventually replace you in the State too,” she said during an interactive session on Monday, in which she participated along with Tushar Gandhi, activist and great grandson of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
She said she was extremely appalled when the police, acting under instructions from the Telangana government, arrested scores of peacefully agitating students and professors at the University of Hyderabad. “The formation of Telangana State goes a long way back to many struggles. It should not be undone for a few central berths,” she said.
Talking of the recent convictions in Gulbarg carnage during the Gujarat riots, she said she was disappointed that the judge could not see political conspiracy behind the killings.
With regard to the Naroda Patiya massacre which had happened just two kilometres away from Gulbarg, the court held that there was wider political conspiracy, she reminded.
“Even today, the defence argued that Ehsan Jafri fired at the mob. Did 15,000 people gather there to fry samosas and pakodas?” she questioned angrily.
Mr.Gandhi expressed regret that the intellectual ability of the society has come down drastically, and said the deficiency cannot be filled with information and communication technologies.
About the PIL filed by right-wing organisation Abhinav Bharat in Bombay High Court seeking fresh investigation into the murder of M.K. Gandhi, he said it was a ploy to discredit the facts presented before the Kapoor Commission incriminating Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. The case was dismissed by the court on Monday.
Though it is the BJP at the Centre, the ruling force behind it is the RSS, says Teesta Setalvad
