THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: During her two-month-long imprisonment at Sabarmati Central jail, she felt loneliness and fear. And the only relief came in the form of letters she got from across the country, said rights activist Teesta Setalvad.
She was speaking at the inaugural of the 13th national conference of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.
"I used to feel fear and loneliness at Sabarmati central jail. But one thing that was with me besides my friends and family was the lovely letters that I got from across the country. I received 200 to 500 letters daily. A total of 2007 letters were received. These letters were given to me after censoring by the jail authorities. I used to read these letters taking three to four hours a day. My fellow prisoners used to ask me the secret behind getting all these letters. The workers of the All India Democratic Woman’s federation, Communist party and the All India Forest Working People were sending it," she said.
She said when the results were coming out after the 2019 Lok Sabha election, her friend Gouri Lankesh, who was later shot dead, called her in anguish and asked what would happen in the future. "I told her what was to happen would happen," Teesta said.
"After 2019 the crime against women has grown. The regime that is now in power is a combination of political-social- religious right and far economic right. Under them, the crime against women is growing. But behind the crime against women, there are two things that stand out. Crime and violence were there earlier also. However, the level of cruelty and killing accompanied by the voyeurism - the happiness they felt by watching this - is a recent phenomenon. They are selectively showcasing some of these incidents that suit the mindset and ideology of the regime in power to further create an enemy within communities," she said.
Teesta also pointed out that this tendency started in the late 1980s after the neo-liberal policies were implemented and the movement for Ram Mandir started. "This was an unfinished agenda for them. This kind of politics created confusion even in the feminist movement. So we need to have clarity of vision and thought besides our struggle. Today India is denoted by a partially elected democracy and an electoral autocracy. But we need to understand that there was an assault in 1975-77 as well. To strengthen democracy people’s agitation should happen from time to time. Indian democracy is a work in progress. Our democracy has taken a jolt in the last ten years."
"Today what we see is a rule by the executive and the police. And the worst is the criminalization and weaponization of laws. According to Article 39, Directive principle. good legal aid must be the right of every Indian. However, getting bail and justice becomes easy for some people. Our criminal justice system has yet to be democratized," she said.
Teesta also said that the last nine years of history will also be the advocation of the media. The media establishment has completely succumbed to corporatization, to authoritarianism and has become a virtual lackey of the government. They have become a complete propaganda tool of the central government.