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CJP |
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CJP |
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Gujarat Riots |
Crime Against Humanity
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Press ReleasePlea to media: eschew sensationalism March 31, 2005 The Citizens for Justice and Peace [CJP] would like to express it’s concern at the sensational reports carried in some newspaper publications yesterday. These concern vile and malafide allegations made against our Secretary, Teesta Setalvad by Ms Zahira Shaikh. First and foremost, it needs to be understood that a high level inquiry is afoot, being conducted by the Registrar General of the Supreme Court of India. As part of this process, both Ms Shaikh and us were expected to file affidavits. Our affidavits filed by our President, Mr Tendulkar and our secretary, Ms Setalvad were filed three weeks back on March 9, 2005. We thought that normal procedure and decorum require that since they were subject to an inquiry they should not be publicised. Ms Shaikh has chosen another route and in her recent affidavit has chosen to once again attempt to vilify Ms Setalvad’s personal character when in fact both she and the forces behind her wish to derail the justice process for all Gujarat victims. The media at this juncture needs to play a role befitting it’s status and prestige. We urge the media that has done much to keep the issue of the Gujarat carnage alive to rise above narrow sensationalism and look at the more serious issues involved here. The issues raised by us in our affidavit are substantive and open for perusal. The fact that Ms Shaikh decides to question a body like the National Human Rights Commission [NHRC] speaks for itself. Added to this is the fact that substantive issues of fact raised by the CJP in it’s affidavit, including the fact that Ms Shaikh had over 12 months living independently in Mumbai (with her mother and brothers) to hurl allegations but chose to wait until the trial had begun and independent witnesses had deposed and identified the accused to do so, is in itself very suspicious. It needs to be recalled that it was when Ms Shaikh was asked to file details of her and her family’s bank accounts in February 2005 by the Supreme Court that she lashed out asking an inquiry into not the CJP’s but Ms Setalvad’s accounts. Ms Setalvad has acted as Secretary of the CJP in full compliance with the wishes of the Board of Trustees. She is not in this case functioning as an individual. She represents the entire Board. This fact is being deliberately hidden from public view. It may also be in order to recall the role played by the CJP as an organisation and through it’s Secretary in bringing issues of justice to victims of the Gujarat carnage. For those interested, information is available on the several and sustained legal initiatives undertaken by us. The recent vile allegations are part of a wider design to obscure this contribution from public view and deter anyone else from coming to the legal aid of victims of communal crimes. To reduce the entire dangerous and sordid effort to narrow character assassination and mudslinging does not befit the fourth estate that needs to be concerned with issues and processes within a democracy and the subversive efforts to de-rail them.
Vijay Tendulkar, President |
