11 Facts About Teesta Setalvad

Teesta Setalvad was born on 9 February 1962 and is an Indian civil rights activist and journalist.

Teesta Setalvad is the secretary of Citizens for Justice and Peace, an organisation formed to advocate for the victims of 2002 Gujarat riots.

Teesta Setalvad married Javed Anand, a journalist turned minority rights activist.

Teesta Setalvad subsequently went to college, studied law for two years, dropped out and then graduated with a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Bombay University in 1983 and started work as a journalist.

Teesta Setalvad reported for the Mumbai editions of The Daily and The Indian Express newspapers, and later for Business India magazine.

Teesta Setalvad's career as a mainstream journalist was a decade long.

Teesta Setalvad wrote the book A Footsoldier of the Constitution: A Memoir about her experiences in Gujarat.

In November 2004, Teesta Setalvad was accused of pressuring Zaheera Sheikh, the key witness in the Best Bakery case, to make certain statements, leading to the unprecedented transferral of the case outside Gujarat.

In 2013, twelve residents of the Gulbarg Society who were the victim of Gujarat riots, accused Teesta Setalvad of collecting donations in the name of riot victims but failing to use them for their benefit and sent a legal notice to her.

In June 2022, the Supreme Court on rejected plea by Zakia Jafri, and accused Teesta Setalvad of exploiting emotions of Jafri.

Amnesty International India has said that Teesta Setalvad's arrest is a 'direct reprisal' against human rights activists.