Who is Teesta Setalvad? Activist whose NGO HM Amit Shah blamed for giving 'baseless information' about Gujarat riots

Teesta Setalvad-run NGO gave baseless information about the Gujarat riots, said Union Home Minister Amit Shah after the Supreme Court on Friday rejected an appeal against the exoneration of then state Chief Minister Narendra Modi in a 2002 riots case.

The case pertains to what came to be known as Gulbarg Society incident, in which 68 people, including former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, were killed in the riots triggered by the burning of a train coach in which 59 pilgrims perished in February 2002. A decade later, the SIT report, exonerated Narendra Modi, citing "no prosecutable evidence" in the Gulbarg Society case.

Who is Teesta Setalvad?

Teesta Setalvad is the secretary of Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), an organisation formed to advocate for the victims of the 2002 Gujarat riots.

The CJP is a co-petitioner seeking a criminal trial against Narendra Modi and several other politicians and government officials for alleged complicity in the Gujarat riots of 2002.

On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court, while upholding the SIT clean chit given to PM Modi in Gujarat riots case, said that activist Teesta Setalvad exploited the emotions of petitioner Zakia Jafri for "ulterior motives".

What are the allegations against her?

One of the allegations against Teesta and her husband Javed Anand was that they perpetrated a colossal fraud by collecting funds to the tune of Rs.6 crore to Rs 7 crore in the “name of riot victims by launching a massive fund collection drive from 2007-2014 through advertisements in a magazine” owned by them and also through the “conduct of musical and artistic events”.

It was alleged in the court that these funds raised through charity were splurged by the couple on wining and dining and other articles of conspicuous consumption.

Teesta however claimed that the actions were a witch-hunt and an attempt to eliminate her. However, the BJP responded by saying that law was merely taking its own course.

Another allegation against Teesta is that she violated foreign exchange laws and misused the funds donated to her NGO by the US-based Ford Foundation in 2009.

Published on: Saturday, June 25, 2022, 11:12 AM IST