In India, Amnesty International has strongly condemned the arrest of human rights activist Teesta Setalvad by the Gujarat Police.

In a statement, the organisation called Indian authorities to release her with immediate effect.

Similarly, reacting to the same, Islamic organisation Jamaat-e-Islami Hind said suppressing voices for people’s rights would weaken our democracy and therefore weaken India.

In a statement, JIH vice president Salim Engineer said, activists are not adversaries or enemies of the government and the administration but their work supplements the government in delivering justice to the people.

Teesta Setalvad is an Indian civil rights activist and journalist. She is the secretary of Citizens for Justice and Peace, an organisation formed to advocate for the victims of 2002 Gujarat riots.

Setalvad was detained after Supreme Court dismissed a petition filed by her along with Zakia Jafri, whose husband Ehsan Jafri was murdered during the 2002 Gujarat riots. The petition sought to probe role of PM Narendra Modi, who was then Gujarat’s Chief Minister.