New Delhi: Taking strong exception to the killing of a Right to Information (RTI) activist Ranjan Kumar Das in Talasgana village of Odisha on January 31, as many as 18 former civil service officers have written to chief minister Naveen Patnaik to take strict and immediate action against perpetrators of such attacks. They have also urged him to implement administrative and legislative measures in order to prevent violence against activists who are committed to reducing corruption and promoting accountability.
Das was a member of the Odisha Jana Suchana Adhikar Abhijan of Talasanga village. He died under “suspicious circumstances”, the letter charged. It added that “two years ago, he had exposed the illegal construction of a resort by Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) in Bhitarkanika National Park. Ranjan had also brought to light the misappropriation of 25 lakhs that the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) allotted to an NGO in the area.”
Stating that Das had been seeking information related to illegal sand quarries and brick kilns, and had obtained information about corrupt practices of local officials and NGOs under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the letter indicated that heinous murder was not a one-off incident. “His heinous murder follows the deaths of RTI activist Abhimanyu Pandya from Kandhamal, Odisha, in December 2019, in equally suspicious circumstances,” it noted.
Biju Janata Dal (BJD) President Naveen Patnaik takes oath as the Chief Minister of Odisha for a fifth consecutive term at the Idco Exhibition Ground, in Bhubaneswar, Wednesday, May 29, 2019. Credit: PTI
Systematic targeting of RTI activists
The former civil servants also saw an attempt in the murder to systematically target those seeking to expose corruption. “Though we cannot, at this stage, say so with certainty till the reports are out, it appears to us as if the probable reason for his murder arises from an attempt to silence his commitment to highlight corrupt practices. It is a matter of grave concern that activists who use legal and constitutional means to expose criminal acts, among other kinds of corruption are being systematically targeted,” the letter said.
The signatories of the letter are: Aruna Roy, Sundar Burra and Harsh Mander, Madhu Bhaduri, Nitin Desai, M.G Devasahayam, Meena Gupta, Chandrashekhar Balakrishnan, Ashok Kumar Sharma, N.C Saxena, K.P. Fabian, Meeran C. Borwankar, Ramani Venkatesan, Vibhu Puri Das, Keshav Desiraju, Aditi Mehta, Deb Mukharji, and Aurobindo Behera. They said that the incident showed that Odisha has increasingly become one of the most dangerous spaces for RTI users.
“As responsible citizens and as ex-members of government, we strongly condemn this brutal murder,” the former bureaucrats wrote.
They said a police investigation as also a civil society fact-finding mission will surely bring out the facts of the case.
‘Killings seek to threaten transparency seekers’
The letter also cautioned that “these killings are dangerous both in terms of personal loss of human life as well as the message that they are meant to send to people who work untiringly for justice, transparency, and accountability.”
Therefore, the former civil servants demanded that the response of the Odisha government should be to “counter the threat being passed by these attacks. The government must respond not just by apprehending the murderers, but also by taking measures to prevent such attacks in the future, and ensure that RTI users are protected.”
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The former bureaucrats, many of who are also well known civil rights activists, urged Patnaik to issue a statement warning those who attempt to target RTI activists in the future of severe and immediate punishment.
“This,” they said, “can only be put in place through additional legislative and administrative measures.”
Odisha urged to make specific interventions
More specifically, the activists urged the Odisha government to immediately pass and bring the Whistle Blowers Protection Act into effect immediately; provide support and compensation to the families of RTI activists; and to make measures undertaken by the Ministry of Rural Development for MGNREGA to become state government policy for every department, so that the issues themselves are thoroughly investigated.
They also asked the government to make efforts to implement Section 4(1)(b) of the RTI Act, whereby public authorities must provide information suo motu to the public.