Times of India: Mumbai: Thursday,
October 20, 2016.
At least 56
persons across the country paid with their lives for demanding transparency and
accountability in government through their applications since 2006, when the
Right to Information Act came into force. Maharashtra tops the list of such
murders, assaults and cases of harassment of RTI seekers in the country.
Media reports
indicate at least 51 murders and five suicides that can be linked to the
victims' use of RTI to seek information in public interest. Data compiled by
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), New Delhi, suggested that
Maharashtra topped the list with 10 'murders' and at least two suicides,
followed by Gujarat with eight 'murders' and a suicide, UP with six 'murders'
and a suicide and Karnataka and Bihar with five 'murders' each. The data
includes the recent murder of Bhupendra Vira in Kalina.
Most of these
murders, assaults and cases of harassment have occurred between 2010 and 2014,
when RTI activism gained popularity. The year 2011 witnessed most attacks (83
reported incidents), while 48 were reported in 2012. More than 47 incidents
were reported in 2010, and 36 in 2013, 26 in 2014, and 21 in 2015.
Venkatesh
Nayak, programme coordinator for CHRI's access to information programme, said
17 of the RTI users attacked or harassed were women. "A woman died while
trying to save her RTI activist father-in-law from a murderous attack in
Haryana during this period," he added. CHRI data showed that besides
murder, most cases of assault and harassment too were in Maharashtra.
An expert
related this to growing RTIs regarding corruption and malpractices in handling
land and public property, besides several transactions in real estate.
"In a
country where the national motto is Satyameva Jayate (Truth alone shall
triumph), we have found media reports of more than 311 attacks on or cases of
harassment of citizens who sought information under RTI. Our database covers
the period from October 12, 2005 to October 17, 2016. Attacks on RTI users have
not ceased despite directions from several information commissions and state
governments to protect them from harm. But not all those murdered and assaulted
were seasoned RTI activists. Some were seeking information for the first time.
So we have categorised them all as RTI users (to differentiate them from other
information-seekers in general) who have suffered at the hands of vested
interests," said Nayak, who coordinated the compilation of attacks.