A group of progressive organisations and several leading writers and intellectuals held a demonstration on the steps of Town Hall on Sunday against the arrest of activist Teesta Setalwad and former IPS officer R.B. Srikumar in the Gujarat riots conspiracy case.
Linguist G.N. Devy said while no one has been arrested for the murder of former parliamentarian Ehsan Jafri during the riots, the support of Ms. Setalwad or others for Zakia Jafri’s fight for justice could not be construed as a “conspiracy”.
“This will have a chilling effect on those who are relying on courts to fight for justice,” he said. “Initiating State action following an observation made in the court is definitely not in the spirit of the law of the land,” he said.
“The targeting of human rights activists and those who have spoken out against the present regime is an assault on our democratic and constitutional principles. We stand with them and demand their immediate release,” said Bahutva Karnataka, a coalition of several progressive organisations, in a statement.
