Please include my endorsement of the letter. Satya Sivaraman, Journalist
On Wed, Jul 15, 2015 at 12:29 PM, ram puniyani <[email protected]> wrote: > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: shabnam hashmi <[email protected]> > Date: Wed, Jul 15, 2015 at 10:27 AM > Subject: statement protesting Teesta's harassment- please endorse > To: shabnam hashmi <[email protected]> > > > Kindly endorse by 3pm. please write your name, profession/ organisation > and state. also please send as many names from your state as possible. > > *STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF TEESTA* > > We the undersigned express their profound dismay and disquiet at the > continued official harassment by the central government of leading human > rights defenders Teesta Setlawad and Jawed Anand. Since the installation of > the BJP led government in Delhi in May 2014, the country has witnessed open > strenuous official efforts to foist a large variety of charges of financial > irregularity on them, to harass them, to tarnish their reputations, and to > secure their arrests. Fortunately the interventions of the higher judiciary > have protected them so far. However the latest raids by the Central Bureau > of Investigation into their home and offices in Mumbai on 14 July 2015 are > signs of continuing open misuse of official bodies to harass these human > rights defenders. > > > It is well-known that Teesta Setlawad and Jawed Anand have fought an > unrelenting battle not only to bring to book criminals who committed > gruesome hate crimes against Muslims in the carnage of 2002, but also to > expose the role of the Gujarat government in enabling, abetting and even > organising these crimes. They have been fearless in charging the then Chief > Minister Narendra Modi, who is currently the country’s Prime Minister, with > direct criminal culpability for these crimes. For this they have assisted > the widow of a former MP who was slaughtered in the carnage Zakia Jafri to > fight a brave court battle in which the first accused is the then Chief > Minister Narendra Modi. They are also appealing against court orders to > free on bail prominent political leaders of the BJP convicted of the worst > massacre in Naroda Patiya, Maya Kodnani and Babu Bajrangi. > > > What we are witnessing is crude and defiant misuse of official bodies to > beat down these human rights defenders so as to silence their voices, break > their morale and divert them from their unrelenting battles in defence of > justice which charge the country’s current leadership with complicity in > hate crimes. The veracity of their charges will be decided in the > country’s courts. But their right to fight for justice on behalf of the > survivors of one of the most shameful communal carnages in the history of > free India is protected by India’s democracy. The open official bullying of > courageous human rights defenders even as persons charged with a range of > serious crimes walk free are brazen official attempts to diminish Indian > democracy. These must be powerfully resisted by all democratic voices in > the country. > > > > Harsh Mander, Aman Biradari and Centre for Equity Studies > > Apoorvanand, academician > > Shabnam Hashmi, social activist, Anhad > > Kamal Faruqi, FCA, Former Chairman Delhi Minorities Commission > > > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "humanrights movement" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > . > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/humanrights-movement. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "humanrights movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/humanrights-movement. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
