Mumbai, Jun 26 (PTI) The Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO) on Sunday said the arrest of activist Teesta Setalvad and a former IPS officer by the Gujarat Police will have a “chilling effect” on the fundamental freedoms.
Referring to the Supreme Court’s recent order upholding the clean chit given by the SIT to the then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 communal riots case, the SIO said the use of the apex court’s direction to take action against the so-called fabricated cases is going to have a chilling effect on every Indian’s ability to exercise their fundamental freedoms, and it highlights the institutional breakdown of the pillars of our democracy.
“The government’s aim of creating an Opposition-less system is not only limited to political parties but extends to silencing all human rights defenders. This is meant to set in motion a chain of actions enabling a Fascist authoritarian regime, with activists, lawyers, students, farmers and youths facing the brunt of the police state. In the process, the state is trying to rewrite historical truths and wiping our collective memory,” the SIO said in a release.
The Ahmedabad crime branch registered an FIR against Setalvad, and former IPS officers RB Sreekumar, and Sanjiv Bhatt on Saturday, a day after the Supreme Supreme Court dismissed a petition challenging the clean chit given by the SIT to Narendra Modi and others in 2002 post-Godhra riots cases.
Setalvad and Sreekumar were arrested. PTI ZA NSK NSK
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