India rarely saw accountability of State in targeted violence: Teesta Setalvad

Delivering the Girish Patel Smarnanjali Lecture in Ahmedabad, on October 2, Ms. Setalvad said the story of targeted violence begins with the build-up that is created with hate speeches and hate writings.

Social activist Teesta Setalvad has said the country had rarely seen accountability of the State as far as targeted violence is concerned and added that survivors and citizens supporting them are among the "fallout" of such violence.

Delivering the Girish Patel Smarnanjali Lecture in Ahmedabad, on October 2, Ms. Setalvad said the story of targeted violence begins with the build-up that is created with hate speeches and hate writings. “The survivors of such violence have to face difficulties in ensuring punishment for the perpetrators,” she added.

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"What is fallout? State accountability happens rarely in our country. How many people have been punished in [the riots of] 1984, 1992 and 2002? These are the questions before us. And the difficulties that survivors have to face to ensure punishment and citizens for supporting them are the issues that come up," she said.

Ms. Setalvad was recently arrested by Gujarat police in a case of the alleged fabrication of evidence to frame innocent people in the 2002 Gujarat riots cases in which a large number of people, especially those from the minority community, were killed. She was recently granted interim bail by the Supreme Court.

Ms. Setalvad said working on a deeply polarising issue among the public is not an easy one and added that the impact of social media on polarisation is also overwhelming.

"The people in power who are controlling social media are the same that have spent 70-80 years in the society, on the roads, among doctors, lawyers, and cultural organisations to capture them. Power is degenerative, but they have worked hard," she said.