Times of India: Anahita Mukherji: Wednesday , August 17 , 2011.
MUMBAI: While Shehla Masood, a feisty environmentalist and RTI activist, was shot dead in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday, Maharashtra, too, has a growing list of social activists, RTI practioners and conservationists who have been attacked, injured or killed over the last one year.
One such list was sent to union home minister P Chidambaram and chief minister Prithviraj Chauhan a couple of months ago by the Movement against Intimidation, Threat and Revenge against Activists (MITRA). MITRA has compiled a list of all the activists attacked in Maharashtra in the year 2010. Retired cabinet secretary BG Deshmukh, who died earlier this month, was the president of MITRA, which serves as an umbrella organization for several NGOs in the field of activism.
Those killed include RTI activist Satish Shetty from Pune and Arun Sawant from Thane, who had exposed several land scams. Vithal Gite from Beed was killed for exposing corruption in a local school, while Dattatreya Patil from Ichalkaranji was murdered for exposing corruption in the handloom sector. Jaitapur protestor Irfan Yusuf Kazi and Ramdas Ghadegaokar, an RTI activist from Nanded, were also amongst those killed.
"Two weeks ago, a couple of policemen approached me asking whether I wanted protection. I declined as this would have meant having the police follow me around wherever I went, which does not make sense. Police protection for activists can only be for a limited period of time and not forever.
Every individual who raises civic or political issues can't be provided police protection. Instead, what we want is a safer environment in which to work," said Sumaira Abdulali, convener, MITRA, who has been attacked by the sand mafia on two occasions. A year ago, Abdulali, activist Naseer Jalal and TOI journalist Viju B were attacked at Mahad while inspecting a sand mining site.
"If you go to a village where sand mining is taking place, every villager will be able to identify the people involved in mining, so I find it a little hard to imagine that the police can't do so too. The cops need to crack down on the mafia. But instead, the authorities work in collusion with the mafia," says Abdulali. "An activist's job is a thankless one. You die like an orphan with no support from the authorities. In fact, the government is encouraging the killing of activists by not taking action against the killers," said Stalin D, project director of NGO Vanashakti.
He and Debi Goenka of the Bombay Environmental Action Group were assaulted while inspecting a mangrove site being destructed in Dahisar. "No one was arrested despite the fact that we had footage of the people who attacked us," said Stalin, adding that the very act of filing an RTI raising uncomfortable questions exposes one to the risk of being attacked.
One such list was sent to union home minister P Chidambaram and chief minister Prithviraj Chauhan a couple of months ago by the Movement against Intimidation, Threat and Revenge against Activists (MITRA). MITRA has compiled a list of all the activists attacked in Maharashtra in the year 2010. Retired cabinet secretary BG Deshmukh, who died earlier this month, was the president of MITRA, which serves as an umbrella organization for several NGOs in the field of activism.
Those killed include RTI activist Satish Shetty from Pune and Arun Sawant from Thane, who had exposed several land scams. Vithal Gite from Beed was killed for exposing corruption in a local school, while Dattatreya Patil from Ichalkaranji was murdered for exposing corruption in the handloom sector. Jaitapur protestor Irfan Yusuf Kazi and Ramdas Ghadegaokar, an RTI activist from Nanded, were also amongst those killed.
"Two weeks ago, a couple of policemen approached me asking whether I wanted protection. I declined as this would have meant having the police follow me around wherever I went, which does not make sense. Police protection for activists can only be for a limited period of time and not forever.
Every individual who raises civic or political issues can't be provided police protection. Instead, what we want is a safer environment in which to work," said Sumaira Abdulali, convener, MITRA, who has been attacked by the sand mafia on two occasions. A year ago, Abdulali, activist Naseer Jalal and TOI journalist Viju B were attacked at Mahad while inspecting a sand mining site.
"If you go to a village where sand mining is taking place, every villager will be able to identify the people involved in mining, so I find it a little hard to imagine that the police can't do so too. The cops need to crack down on the mafia. But instead, the authorities work in collusion with the mafia," says Abdulali. "An activist's job is a thankless one. You die like an orphan with no support from the authorities. In fact, the government is encouraging the killing of activists by not taking action against the killers," said Stalin D, project director of NGO Vanashakti.
He and Debi Goenka of the Bombay Environmental Action Group were assaulted while inspecting a mangrove site being destructed in Dahisar. "No one was arrested despite the fact that we had footage of the people who attacked us," said Stalin, adding that the very act of filing an RTI raising uncomfortable questions exposes one to the risk of being attacked.
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