Teesta Setalvad

"Mass arson claimed 58 innocent lives... Flames of hatred engulfed Gujarat."

"No Indian government will allow Amnesty International ...to set foot inside this country... Amnesty International ...will ask neither the Indian government for the truth, facts and figures...[but] will ask the likes of Teesta Setalvad, Harsh Mander and Kathy Sreedhar..."

"I had given numerous photographs to Teesta Setalvad of rioting mobs during that period. They clearly showed faces of known party workers and leaders of the Congress Party along with VHP/Bajrang Dal and BJP cadres. Teesta has never released those pictures that implicate Congressmen. Those particular photographs have simply disappeared. She has refused to give me copies of pictures I sent her from ground zero. Likewise, she never mentions or shows pictures of Muslim mobs attacking Hindu homes and business establishments during that period. When I began pointing out to Teesta and Co. that they were presenting a one-sided picture of the riots, and that they studiously avoided talking of attacks on Hindus, the losses they suffered, the thousands that were rendered homeless and sought shelter in relief camps, she let loose a propaganda campaign that I had been bought over by the VHP. She finally threw me out of the organisation without as much as giving me notice or a chance to explain myself. Moreover, Teesta got false affidavits signed on behalf of riot victims. That is why many of the victims have openly distanced themselves from her. Only those Muslims who are on Teesta’s payroll are still standing by her. She gives them monthly doles to remain as showpieces of the Gujarat riots and give tutored testimonies. Till 2007, as the ground level worker of Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), I was in-charge of distributing cash to such families—all of which was part of hawala money Teesta got from various Muslim countries—bulk of which she kept for herself.... I had submitted photographic evidence of Muslims also attacking Hindu areas. Many Muslims suffered injuries from police firings because they were also attacking Hindus where they could. But Teesta did not publicise that evidence."

"But the fountain head of all these devious interpretation was Teesta Setalvad. She made it politically fashionable to say that since the Hindus killed in the Godhra train carnage were “militant karsevaks, they “could hardly be described as innocent travelers”. This implies that they deserved to be butchered. Even today, the website of Communalism Combat peddles the same prejudice despite the fact that Nanavati Commission has recorded that the karsevaks did not do anything to invite being butchered."

"I was a personal witness to the following incident. On 3 rd or 4 th of March, I entered Shah Alam dargah, which had been converted into a refugee camp. Baldeep Singh photographer was with me. On one side of the dargah there is a big room where one lady named Belim was briefing the press and giving highly exaggerated accounts of what had happened. She was crying hysterically in front of journalists. As soon as the media persons moved away, she instantly stopped howling. This made it obvious that it was all a play-act. On the other side of the partition, there was a squint-eyed man from Karnataka. A lady was sitting with him with a tape recorder tutoring this Muslim from Karnataka to say, “I am so angry at the riots that I am going to become a terrorist.” Teesta has a real perverse streak in her. She had started tutoring witnesses from the start as though she was just waiting for this riot to break out."

"Teesta, Hashmi, and others did come to our camps but they did not give us even one rupee by way of help. They would come, record the sad stories of victims, take photographs, and leave. None of them said to me, “We have this much money to offer you, tell us how you want it spent.” I’m not interested in working with those kind of NGOs."

"They never listen to people like me or Asifa Khan the way they listen to Teesta Setalvad even though unlike her, we have no personal agenda. The media prefers talking to those who have made commerce out of other people’s problems. I call such people merchants of misery. Our country would be far more peaceful, and inter-community relations would return to being amicable, if their shops would shut down."