Protesters Slam CBI Raid on Teesta, Anand

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Teesta Setalvad
Teesta Setalvad
Photo: Shailendra Pandey

A group of social activists, legal association representatives and citizenry collectively protested the raids by the Central Bureau of Investigation on Teesta Setalvad and Javed Anand in Jantar Mantar . “We are registering protest against the raids conducted by the CBI against activists who are being hounded by the government especially because of their connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots,” said Shabnam Hashmi, a social activist who convened the gathering.

On July 14, the CBI had raided the house and offices of Teesta Setalvad and Javed Anand who have been pursuing cases related to the 2002 Gujarat riots. “We refuse to accept the indignation suffered by all human rights activists and will leave no stone unturned in protesting,” said Hashmi.

In the show of solidarity with the two activists, the protestors demanded that the cases which have been used as pretext to hound Setalvad, her colleagues and their organsiation be withdrawn and secondly that the CBI with immediate effect end its misinformation campaign which the group called  “absolutely contrary to facts and truth.”

 Apoorvanand one of the organizers said similar dharnas would be held in other cities like Pune, Patna Lucknow and Mumbai. “This is only the start of many such protests,” he said.

The raids on the activists have come before the final hearing of the Zakia Jafri case on July 27, 2015. On 13 june the Gujarat High Court had adjourned hearing on the petition filed by Zakia Jafri, the widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri (who was allegedly murdered in the riots) challenging the order of a local court which upheld Special Investigation Team’s (SIT) a clean chit to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others in a 2002 riots case. The court had posted the next hearing for July.

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