Teesta Setalvad, who was recently released from jail on interim bail in a case where trumped-up charges were foisted upon her by a vindictive state, has now set her sights on advocating for prison reforms. She shared this while commemorating the fifth death anniversary of Gauri Lankesh, fearless journalist and close friend of Setalvad.
Setalvad and Lankesh, both-activist journalists, have a long history of advocating for communal harmony, gender justice and equality. In fact, five years ago, Lankesh was killed in cold blood, allegedly by right-wing extremists, for calling out their divisive agenda. To honour the memory of her slain friend, Setalvad has decided to now fight for justice for women wronged by the present justice system.
On Monday September 5, speaking via video-conferencing at an event organized in Lankesh’s home city of Bengaluru by the Gauri Memorial Trust, of which Setalvad is the Chairperson, she said, “I thought of Gauri Lankesh when I was in jail.”
Setalvad, who had met many hapless women forced to languish behind bars at the Sabarmati Jail in Ahmedabad where the activist had spent over two months, brought up the shocking remission of sentences granted to people convicted in the Bilkis Bano case, and demanded justice for the women who were eligible for similar relief, but were denied the same.
“Seventeen women who have completed 14 years in prison were waiting anxiously for their remission mercy petitions to be accepted on August 15; the rapists of Bilkis Bano were released and not them. This shows how lopsided justice is in our country. We need to seriously take up a campaign for prison reforms,” Setalvad was quoted as saying by The News Minute. “I think the time has come on September 5, 2022, the fifth anniversary of Gauri Lankesh’s brutal assassination, for us to seriously begin a campaign for prison reform,” she said, according to The Telegraph.
Also present at the event was Booker Prize winning author Arundhuti Roy, who said, “Gauri was someone who everytime I wrote something would call me with excitement asking if she could translate my work.” She demanded greater accountability from elected Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA), and questioned the culture of horse-trading and hiding in resorts, and asked, “How is it possible that we live in a country where people go and vote for a person that represents a particular party and the day after tomorrow, that person doesn’t represent that party, and that is legal?” She sarcastically alluded to a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for MLAs.
Other key attendees at the event included scholar Ganesh Devy, actor Prakash Raj and journalist D Umapathy.
Some images from the event may be viewed here:
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