Zaheera disputes NHRC's claims

Questioning the veracity of a petition by the National Human Rights Commission on Gujarat riots, Best Bakery case star witness Zaheera Sheikh has sought before the Supreme Court-appointed probe committee an opportunity to cross-examine the NHRC chairperson as well as a probe into the wealth of social activist Teesta Setalvad.

This has been stated by Zaheera in an affidavit filed before the committee headed by Registrar-General BM Gupta who, along with Kanwaljeet Deol, has been assigned the task of finding the truth behind the alleged conflicting statements made by Zaheera and Setalvad in the Best Bakery case.

It was on the petitions of the NHRC and Setalvad that the apex court had started monitoring the post-Godhra riots cases and it was alleged by Zaheera that her statements made before the NHRC were doctored and placed before the Supreme Court, which had set aside the acquittal of all 21 accused before ordering fresh trial of the case at Mumbai.

Accusing Setalvad of "tutoring her" in the matter prior to her deposition before the commission, Zaheera said in a sworn affidavit that "I was taken to the office of the NHRC and was made to say orally what Teesta had told me to say."

Zaheera said her so-called statement produced by the NHRC before the apex court during the hearing on Gujarat riots cases was not what she said orally before the commission and requested the committee to summon the records of the human rights body on this aspect.

Stating that the chairperson of the commission and two members took part in the recording of her statement, Zaheera said: "I would like my lawyer to examine the chairman of the NHRC in respect of her statement, which formed part of the affidavit filed on behalf of the human rights body."

Giving details of the manner in which Setalvad allegedly marketed the Gujarat riots to get pecuniary advantage from abroad, the witness said, "neither Teesta nor her husband is running any NGO called Communal Combat, which is a business venture of a company or firm known as Sabrang Publication."

"I and Best Bakery were the symbols to ensure money collected in the name of Combat Communalism," she said.

"My lawyers tell me that this is a device to avoid the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. Had it been an NGO, every foreign contribution would have been disclosed after giving information to the Union home ministry. It is a disguise to cover-up receipts of foreign contributions," she said and added that the bank passbooks of Teesta, her husband and Sabrang Publications needed careful examination.

Zaheera also took a dig at the US state department reports for 2003-04 presenting Best Bakery as a "notorious case" depicting a communalised Gujarat.

The US state department has set aside several lakhs of dollars for funding litigation aimed at bringing legal redress to Muslims in Gujarat, she said and added "I am applying to this programme for aid and assistance so that I may be able to explain to the world at large the exploitation in the name of secularism and protection of Muslims by persons like Teesta".