rotest against efforts to harass Setalvad outside the hall |
A meeting of survivors of the 2002 Gujarat riots and citizens, organised at the Mehdi Jung Hall Paldi, Ahmedabad, by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Ahmedabad, saw participants in the jam-packed hall calling for social boycott of those who are posing themselves as witnesses to the case filed against top human rights activist Teesta Setalvad in a Gujarat court for alleged misappropriation of the funds of the NGO she is heading for purposes other than fighting cases of riot victims.
wife of ex-Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, who died during the attack on Gulberg Society
in Ahmedabad. Jafri seeking court permission to file an FIR against chief minister
Narendra Modi for inciting rioting, in which her husband was hacked to death.
At the meet, several speakers said, two former employees of Citizens for Peace
and Justice (CJP), who filed cases against Setalvad, should be face "social boycott",
amidst a strong approving applause from the 1,000 strong crowd.
Sairabehn Sandhani addressing the meet |
Among those who spoke included former BJP chief minister Sureshbhai Mehta, who called for caution instead of getting swayed by emotion in the fight for communal peace, former DGP RB Sreekumar, Jesuit human rights activist Cedric Prakash, social activist Sofia Khan, and a survivor of the Gulberg massacre, Sairabehn Sandhi. Sandhi, who had lost several of her relatives in the Gulberg Society massacre, said there was "no truth" in the allegations against Setelvad, levelled by the ex-employees, who were allegedly "bribed" to go against the top activist.