Teesta Setalvad, is a journalist and an activist based out of Mumbai. She is a Padma Shri awardee and a founding trustee and secretary of the NGO Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP). She established this NGO in 2002 in the aftermath of the Gujarat riots. Teesta then limited herself with one area of work, that is providing legal assistance to victims of the riots.
Teesta Setalvad is the granddaughter of M C Setalvad, India’s first Attorney General. Her great grandfather Chimanlal Harilal Setalvad was one of the three Indian members in the Hunter Commission that investigated the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
She is the daughter of a lawyer. Setalvad began her career as a journalist in Mumbai. In 1993, she launched a monthly magazine, Communalism Combat. Later, along with her husband, she set up an organisation, Sabrang Communications. This organization helped to provide information and analysis on communal politics in India.
Moreover, Teesta was among the first activists to take up the cases of riot victims in Gujarat in 2002. She stood up against the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Mr. Narendra Modi. She fought relentlessly, which finally led the Supreme Court to set up a special investigation team to probe the post-Godhra riots, six years later, under former CBI director R K Raghavan.
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