Teesta made of emergency, learned to live in jail from Kasturba: Said – I will not forget the life of a prisoner, got encouragement from 3 thousand letters

Social activist and journalist Teesta Setalvad came out on 3 September 2022 after 70 days in jail. The Supreme Court granted him interim bail. Teesta was accused of allegedly fabricating evidence to implicate innocent people in the Gujarat riots. Dainik Bhaskar talks with Teesta after coming out of jail. Highlights of this interview…

Q: What are the things that make you Teesta Setalvad?

answer-Since childhood, I have been a temperamental, mind-blowing, questioning girl. There was an atmosphere of reading and writing in the family since childhood. This atmosphere instilled in me the passion to work for human rights. India’s social diversity became my strength. I decided to do social work and become a journalist. These things make me Teesta.

Question- Any anecdote from your childhood when you raised your voice against injustice?

answer-When I was in class 10th, the 1977 elections were declared. Emergency was over. Before that in 1975, I wrote letters in newspapers and magazines against the Emergency. I had board exams in 1977. I told the parents that instead of giving the exam, I would fight against the forces enforcing the Emergency and my family members also supported me.

The students were very active during that period. I too joined them. All of us students used to put up posters of Janata Party all over Mumbai. In that election, six out of six seats in Mumbai went to the Janata Party. The memories of those days are still fresh in my mind.

Teesta Setalvad belongs to a Gujarati family, her father Atul Setalvad is a lawyer.

Question- What about parents gives courage to fight against injustice?

answer-From childhood, our parents raised both of us sisters in such a way that we become human beings of our own thinking. Be a free person. My father used to say that study history from my library and not from the textbook. We had a big library in our house, where there were books from the world to the history of India. Both of us sisters grew up reading the same books.

Question- Did you think of becoming an activist while studying?

answer-I read the book ‘All the President’s Men’ when I was 12 years old. Then it was decided to become a journalist. After passing BA in 1983, I became a journalist. She continued to write in newspapers and magazines on issues like women’s issues, communal violence, accountability to society, casteism. Whenever I saw communal violence in the country, wrote against it.

Question- Do you consider Mumbai as your city, tell me your experiences related to it?

answer-My city Mumbai was badly burnt in the communal violence in 1992-1993. Saw the violence in Mumbai after the Babri controversy. Earlier in 1984, I could not forget the violence in Delhi with Sikh brothers and sisters. Such violent situations were also seen with Kashmiri Pandits in the Kashmir Valley. When religion and power are combined, they try to suppress other voices. These efforts are seen not only in our country but also in other countries.

Against this thinking, my journalist husband and I took out a magazine called ‘Communalism Combat’ in 1993. This magazine ran till August 2012. After the 2002 Gujarat riots, we changed the way we work. We all started giving legal help to the communal riot victims. Those who were persecuted in the riots, who did not have the strength to raise their voices, we tried to make their voices within the ambit of the Constitution.

Teesta Setalvad is married to journalist and social activist Javed Anand.

Q: Which personality or book influenced you the most?

answer-When I was growing up, the thoughts of Babasaheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, Jyotiba and Savitribai Phule influenced my mind. My great-grandfather Chimanlal Harilal Setalvad was very close to Babasaheb. I grew up in the middle of this history.

Question – What will be the next strategy?

answer-Whether the work of our organization Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) is in schools, constitutional education, citizenship in Assam or campaign against hatred…work is going on on all issues. Even when I was in jail for two months, this work continued and will continue to do so. No organization or campaign is stronger than one person. We have worked as a team at the grassroots level in the last 15 years and this work continues even today.

Question- Do you think that helping someone was the reason for your going to jail?

answer-No Comments. I will not speak about this case now. The matter is still in court. But I must say that we have not done anything illegal. We have given only legal aid to the victims. I was in jail for 63 days and in remand for 7 days. In total, he was imprisoned for 70 days.

Teesta has been accused of implicating innocent people and forging alleged evidence in the Gujarat riots case.

Question: How is the condition of women in jail? How did you spend your time in jail?

answer-Jail life can’t be good for anyone. From 6 in the morning to 12 in the afternoon and from 3 in the afternoon to 6 in the evening you do not get freedom. You have to find a place to read and write. You have to stand strong by making your routine, discipline and courage.

I continued to interact with other sisters in jail and also made friends. I have seen that relationships can be made inside the prison just as relationships are made outside the prison.

It is a matter of regret that we talk about Digital India, but undertrial prisoners or other prisoners are not able to get the benefit of it. When their cases go to court, they are not given a chance to go online and listen to their lawyer’s argument. This method is against the principles of the Constitution.

He also struggled to study in the prison library. At such times, I received letters and postcards from different tribal areas, democratic women’s organizations and also from abroad. More than 3 thousand cards and letters reached me in jail. All this has become a huge emotional support for me.

Question: Is there anything about women’s rights that you want to work on?

answer-I think women are recruited in jail, administration or police. But the status of women is not equal to that of men. I will not forget jail life. I must say that you can keep someone imprisoned inside, but you cannot suppress his voice. Tushar Gandhi also sent me the just published book of Kasturba Gandhi’s Sabarmati Jail days, that too I read. I read a lot of books in Jess, which gave me strength.

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