The RTI murders…..Nagendar Sharma
UNDISCLOSED CRIMES Across the country, many transparency activists have been killed for asking inconvenient questions, while the police usually looked the other way
UNDISCLOSED CRIMES Across the country, many transparency activists have been killed for asking inconvenient questions, while the police usually looked the other way
Few laws in India have generated as much excitement and hope as the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The first seven months of this year have, however, thrown up a new challenge for this revolutionary transparency law. At least 20 attacks have been reported on RTI activists across the country, resulting in eight murders.
“Through their inaction and apathy, state governments and the police cold-bloodedly leave the citizen activist standing in the line of fire for months and years, alone, undefended and crying for justice,” states a letter from more than 100 activists to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, the moving force behind the law.
Harsh Mander and Aruna Roy, two members of the Sonia Gandhi-headed National Advisory Council, have signed the letter, as have Magsaysay award winners Sandeep Pandey and Arvind Kejriwal.
Hindustan Times on Tuesday reported the cases of Satish Shetty and Vishram Laxman Dodiya, both murdered earlier this year in Pune and Surat, respectively.
A look at some other RTI activists who lost their lives this year:
Dattatraya Pirgonda Patil, (47), Kolhapur (Maharashtra)
He lost his life for exposing the bogus registration of 11 cooperative handloom societies in Ichalkaranji, Kolhapur, which he dug out through RTI applications.
He lost his life for exposing the bogus registration of 11 cooperative handloom societies in Ichalkaranji, Kolhapur, which he dug out through RTI applications.
Patil had also demanded a probe against two retired police officers for their alleged corrupt acts and had challenged the permission granted to a beer bar opposite a girls’ school.
For his efforts, he had received threatening calls on several occasions in the past and he had asked for police protection, which he never received.
Patil was murdered on May 22. His family says they had alerted the police about threats he had received on the morning he was murdered, but nothing was done to provide protection.
Vitthal Gite, (39), Beed (Maharashtra)
A farmer and a flourmill owner, Gite was an unlikely crusader who lost his life on April 21 this year for exposing corruption in a school run by his own family.
A farmer and a flourmill owner, Gite was an unlikely crusader who lost his life on April 21 this year for exposing corruption in a school run by his own family.
According to locals, Gite was part of the family that ran the local Sainath Madhyamik Vidyalaya in Beed. He came to know of some irregularities being committed in the utilisation of grants received from the government, following the expulsion of one his relatives, Arun Gitte, from the school.
He filed RTI applications and exposed all the schools in the area that were allegedly misutilising government funds.
According to the police, Arun had organised a lunch on April 21, where all his relatives including the school’s director were invited.
“An argument broke out there and the two factions attacked each other in which Vitthal was seriously injured,” say the police.
Beed police chief Ravindra Sengaonkar adds: “He was not just murdered for his RTI query though it is true that he had exposed the irregularities and embezzlement.”
Shashidhar Mishra, (35), Barauni, Bihar
A small-time hawker, Mishra was popularly known as Khabri Lal in the industrial townships of Barauni and Begusarai. He was shot dead in front of his house by motorcycle-borne criminals near Barauni in February.
A small-time hawker, Mishra was popularly known as Khabri Lal in the industrial townships of Barauni and Begusarai. He was shot dead in front of his house by motorcycle-borne criminals near Barauni in February.
A graduate, Mishra used RTI to expose scams in local welfare schemes. He shot into prominence when his queries revealed that contaminated water was being sold at Barauni railway junction. The Railways took cognisance of his exposure and police arrested the gang involved in the trade.
Mishra’s neighbour and deputy sarpanch-cum-contractor Ranjit Mishra and his two brothers were arrested for allegedly murdering him.
Venkatesh (48), Bangalore
His struggle to save government property in and around Bangalore from the land mafia, using RTI, led to his murder.
His struggle to save government property in and around Bangalore from the land mafia, using RTI, led to his murder.
Venkatesh (he used only one name) filed RTI applications to gather information on alleged encroachments in and around India’s Silicon Valley. RTI activists say he was instrumental in saving the Bangalore Development Authority property worth Rs 35 crore.
The police initially said Venkatesh was killed in a road accident near Bangalore University’s Jnana Bharati campus on April 12. Doctors who conducted the post-mortem, however, concluded that he had been murdered by a sharp-edged weapon.
Sola Ranga Rao (30), Andhra Pradesh
A resident of Sitaram village in Krishna district, Rao had filed many RTI applications seeking information from the Mandal Parishad Development Office (MPDO) on the funds sanctioned and utilised for the village’s drainage system.
A resident of Sitaram village in Krishna district, Rao had filed many RTI applications seeking information from the Mandal Parishad Development Office (MPDO) on the funds sanctioned and utilised for the village’s drainage system.
His family alleges he was murdered by people who were involved in siphoning off of funds allocated for the drainage system. The Andhra Pradesh Information Commission ordered an inquiry into the Rao’s murder.
URL: http://www.hindustantimes.com/The-RTI-murders/Article1-578683.aspx