Teesta Setalvad joins the various threads of sexual violence, majoritarian politics and State complicity in painstaking detail in this exclusive interview.
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TEESTA Setalvad is a senior journalist, academic and educationist who has worked with several Indian publications, including The Daily, Indian Express and Business India since 1983.
In 1993, she, along with colleague-husband, Javed Anand launched Communalism Combat (a journal that has received kudos for its analysis and quality journalism). Later, they started Sabrang, well recognised for its exploratory media coverage.
Setalvad is known for her analysis and coverage of social violence against marginalised sections and has received the Padma Shri award from the President of India for Service in Public Affairs in Maharashtra.
Setalvad is also a founder trustee and secretary of Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), known for pioneering human rights work in the courtroom, advocacy and training.
The National Register of Citizens (NRC) crisis, the implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, criminal justice reform and hate-watch are some of the key projects of CJP.
The peace map (prevention of violence project) has evolved since 2008 with a wide network of grassroots-level workers and software professionals. The Hate Hatao App, a new initiative, has been launched by CJP to hold to account those who spew hate.
“As with all violence, familial, societal, or State-driven, there is a gender dimension, driven as these structures are by patriarchal values.
Setalvad is also an educationist working on issues related to pluralism and democratic values in the curriculum especially related to the teaching of history and social studies. KHOJ Education for a Plural India programme is an innovative approach to middle school learning in conflict resolution and peace education.
She is also the recipient of over two dozen international and national awards, including the Nuremberg Human Rights Award.
In 2015, Tulika Books published Beyond Doubt: A Dossier on Gandhi's Assassination, edited by Teesta Setalvad. In 2017, her work Teesta Setalvad– Footsoldier of the Constitution was published by Leftword. It has been translated into Punjabi, Hindi, Marathi and Tamil apart from its original in English. She is presently working on three other books.
Setalvad is also one of India's foremost human rights defenders and is known for leading intrepid justice-related work for the survivors of mass-targeted violence. She was wrongfully incarcerated for this work for 70 days in 2002.
In an exclusive interview with The Leaflet, she discusses the relationship between communalism and violence against women and several related issues.
Abhish K. Bose: Is there any correlation between sexual violence and communalism?
Teesta Setalvad: There is indeed. As with all violence, familial, societal, or State-driven, there is a gender dimension, driven as these structures are by patriarchal values.
Women of targeted communities are singled out as 'symbols of honour' of the communities when the horrors and bestiality of violence are unleashed on them. We saw this during the Partition-related violence, 1946–47; Nellie Assam, 1983; Delhi, 1984; Bombay, 1992–93; the build-up of the violence during the Rath Yatra led by L.K. Advani, former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president; Gujarat, 2002; and most recently in Manipur, 2023.
Abhish K. Bose: What are the underlying reasons for the violence and sexual offences unleashed against women in BJP-ruled states? These patterns are evident in the violence against women at the time of the Gujarat and Manipur riots. The Hathras rape case and other cases also happened in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh. Could you explain the sociological reasons coalescing behind these incidents?
Teesta Setalvad: Yes, the reasons are sociological, historical and ideological. We must always remember that the BJP is ruled by the ideological fountainhead, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Hindu Mahasabha— extreme rightwing outfits that are based on a deep-rooted vision of not just a militarised faith but of a misogynist control of women and their sexuality.
The Manusmriti that we often refer to when we speak of these ideologies— a book considered scriptural for believing Sanatani Hindus— legitimises brute and violent caste exclusions and deprivations and also renders women voiceless in the same 'position' as 'Untouchables'.
This whole process, attitude and ideology govern the vision of the BJP where it views the assertions or autonomy of women in matters of choice or rights as out of mould, out of character, and out of their self-defined narrow 'tradition'.
As an extension of this, violence against women is rarely condemned, often condoned and, in fact, under their regime, it grows. I recall (many decades ago) the Bhairon Singh Shekhawat government in Rajasthan where the BJP regime allowed the spate of crimes against women to grow.
Now, Rajasthan is a feudal society, but we did not see that many attacks on Dalits and young girls, even hate speech against minorities in the state when the Congress ruled between 2018 and 2023. However, under BJP leadership, such things become rampant and are socially accepted. The same goes for Gujarat.
“BJP views the assertions or autonomy of women in matters of choice or rights as out of mould, out of character, and out of their self-defined narrow 'tradition'.
UP needs special attention. The current regime— now in its second term that ends in 2027— has seen ghastly and brute cases of crimes against women, including rapes and killings in Unnao and Hathras. It has seen custodial deaths, lynching and extra-judicial killings of people belonging to minority religious communities. It has also seen atrocities against Dalits.
Look at the recent record of Uttar Pradesh. In January 2024, in the Baghpat area, an 18-year-old Dalit woman was subjected to a horrifying act of violence. The woman had been protesting the sexual harassment that she had faced.
However, after she did this, the owner of the oil mill where she used to work came to her, along with two other people, and pushed her into a cauldron of scalding hot oil.
In November 2023, a 40-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly murdered after being raped and her body was chopped off into pieces in Uttar Pradesh's Banda district.
In June 2023, a Dalit minor from Uttar Pradesh was allegedly gang-raped by the same men twice in 44 days, and a year later, the rapists set fire to her house in Laad Kheda village, causing burn injuries to her infant son born out of the rape.
Abhish K. Bose: What is the message from Manipur? Does the spate of violence against women in that state prove that a communal majoritarian model being imposed by the BJP across the country has grave concern for the safety of women?
Teesta Setalvad: The message from Manipur is crude, brutal and callous— that State inaction and complicity of a 'double-engine sarkar' can allow a minority, including women, to be without protection and both Kukis and Meities subject to alienation.
The Opposition has won both seats from Manipur in the Lok Sabha elections. Opposition alliance INDIA needs to now deliver on all such issues and ensure a healthy debate in the Parliament and push for accountability.
Abhish K. Bose: According to the data only twenty or twenty-five percent of the accused in rape cases in the country are convicted and a major portion of the accused walk free. Why is the conviction rate in rape cases in Indian abysmally low?
Teesta Setalvad: The rot and insensitivity have spread from top to bottom and bottom to top. The judiciary, judicial officers, police and families all need to be responsive on these issues. First of all, they should ensure that such violence does not take place.
Then there is a need to sensitise State structures and institutions of justice delivery. There is a need to ensure that FIRs are registered, the investigation is thorough and the survivor's dignity is protected. There is also a need to ensure that the survivor herself is protected and that the trial is time-bound. Issues of privacy need to be respected too.
Abhish K. Bose: Hate speeches on the eve of the elections are a pervasive contemporary reality. The latest general elections are also an indication in this regard. What is the underlying strategy behind this phenomenon?
Teesta Setalvad: Hate speech has always been a tool to generate and escalate communal violence. Months and years before violence physically breaks out, hate, stigma and bias are allowed to swirl within regions, cities and localities through such speech and writing.
Also read: Pornography, populism and the rape culture
Many judicial commission reports have recorded this phenomenon extensively. Over the past decade— there has been a big shift in that women and men in responsible positions of the State, whether constitutional positions like elected officials, cabinet ministers and even the Prime Minister himself, together with certain figures from fraternal organisations such as the RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal (or new outfits such as the Sakal Hindu Samaj that has mushroomed in Maharashtra) are the ones generating and using hate speech, especially during polls.
“In January 2024, in the Baghpat area, an 18-year-old Dalit woman was subjected to a horrifying act of violence.
This has legitimised the hate, poisoned the discourse and adversely affected the efficacy of the law and order machinery in registering cases and acting decisively against hate speech. This means that these crimes have gone unaddressed and the targeted communities have been rendered more vulnerable.
Abhish K. Bose: A special court in Uttar Pradesh had even ignored the dying declaration of the victim in the Hathras rape case and absolved three of the accused in the case thereby only convicting one of the accused. How can such verdicts be issued and why do they not face legal scrutiny?
Teesta Setalvad: This is a shocking lapse in clarity, courage and justice delivery. We do not even know when the appeal will come up or be heard. This case, like the others I have flagged earlier, are test cases for an unaccountable system, especially when it comes to communities such as women, Dalits, Adivasis and minorities.
Abhish K. Bose: The accusation of sexual harassment and abuse made by certain women wrestlers and the complete absence of proactive action on the issue has lowered the country's reputation in the sports world to an unprecedented low. In light of this incident, how do you evaluate the state of protection of women from workplace harassment?
Teesta Setalvad: The issue of sexual harassment at the workplace was highlighted in this amazingly spirited protest by our women wrestlers, another protest that was diffused by the State by the use of brute police force.
In the 2023 Baghpat case of the violence in an oil mill, the story has dropped off the news headlines and we have no idea of the case, whether there has been prosecution or any punishment.
Even the Prajwal Revanna is a good example of such brazen harassment. Such incidents need to be protested against but, most importantly, political parties need to be made to speak and act.
Abhish K. Bose: Activists including you are facing a witch hunt post your interventions in the Gujarat riots cases. What are your thoughts at this juncture in Indian history?
Teesta Setalvad: It is tough. Brave individuals and organisations and people's movements have been pushed to the wall and are forced to work looking over their shoulders. There are some rays of hope, some light at the end of the tunnel. The question is how long the darkness and the tunnel go … for some of this to stop.
Abhish K. Bose: You have taken up the Gujarat carnage seriously. What are your observations about Gujarat carnage and sexual violence? Any comments on the Bilkis Bano case?
“State inaction and complicity of a 'double-engine sarkar' has allowed a minority, including women, to be without protection and subjected both Kukis and Meities to alienation.
Teesta Setalvad: The 2002 acts of reprisal violence in Gujarat were serial acts of complicity by powerful accused who enjoyed the patronage of the State. Our organisation managed some measure of accountability which is why we were so brutally and single-handedly targeted.
Our team at CJP ensures legal aid for survivors, and this work has ensured that 172 people were convicted in ten trials of which 124 were given life imprisonment. We did not ask for the death penalty as we believe in reformative justice.
The Bilkis Bano case is one example of a brave woman survivor and her husband and legal team (Shobha Gupta) who battled an insensitive system for decades and finally ensured accountability.
The brazenness of the Union government and the government of Gujarat (run by the BJP) to allow the 24 convicts to be released, bypassing law and procedure remains a dark blot.
“The issue of sexual harassment at the workplace was highlighted in the amazingly spirited protest by our women wrestlers.
Never forget that the BJP ministers in Gujarat even felicitated these convicts on their release; gave atrocious statements like they were "good Brahmins, so how could they commit rape?"
Bilkis, broken, fought on and the historic judgment delivered by Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan ensuring that they surrender and return to jail was not just a victory for her, but for us all.