Indian
Express: Thiruvananthapuram: Wednesday, 14 January 2015.
‘’We are
building a whole generation of youth who think they know, but they don’t. They have failed to acquire the facts on
various issues and are a politically illiterate generation,’’ noted social
activist Aruna Roy has said. She was referring to the youth of the country who
are addicted to electronic media which she said ‘’had failed to deliver
educational content.’’
The firebrand
activist was in the city as part of a social audit on the working of the State
Information Commission organised by the National Campaign for People’s Right to
Information (NCPRI).
Aruna Roy
Talking to mediapersons, she said that social networking sites on which one can
‘’like’’ and ‘’dislike’’ issues are giving a false impression of social
activism whereas in reality the young adults in the country are growing with no
political insight.
The
founder-member of NCPRI said she feared that the RTI Act will be attacked by
those who are against accountability.
‘’Moves had
been made against the Act,’’ she said, alluding to the previous UPA
Government’s move to amend the RTI Act.
‘’However we are on a good wicket.
The RTI Act had weathered storms and it could function as the
saviour of Indian democracy,’’ she said.
The
‘’extraordinary myths’’ spread about Nathuram Godse has to be examined in the
context of right to freedom of expression. She added that the recent Charlie
Hebdo issue in France has thrown up the issue of dos and donts of freedom of
expression and the ethical issues surrounding them.
Pointing out
that the RTI Act was successful in setting a precedent for pre-legislative
consultation, she said that it should be
formalised with regard to the law-making process.
‘’When
Justice Sawant was drafting the law, there was constant interaction at many
levels. And we have seen the process of making a law together. Before a law is
enacted, people should know the intent. And if they have a problem, they have
the right to contest. The feedback on the draft should be made available on the
internet which should go to the governmental levels,’’ she said.
On Lok Pal Bill, she said: ‘’We are not asking
for a say in the final drafting of the Bill.
What we demand is the right to monitor.’’
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