Three living RTI activists receive obituary from Arvind Kejriwal
11 Mar, 2014In a speech at Ahmedabad rally, Arvind Kejriwal had read an obituary note in which he named RTI activists Amit Jethwa, Bhagu Dewani, Jaysukh Bhambhaniya and Manisha Goswami as martyrs for the cause of society. Starting his speech, he said “First of all I want to pay homage to those who have sacrificed their lives in the last 10 years while fighting against corruption in Gujarat.”
Out of these, the facts show that the real situation is as under:
· Amit Jethwa was killed on July 20, 2010 in front of the Gujarat High Court. CBI is conducting an investigation into the matter.
· Bhagu Dewani (64), a lawyer from Porbandar district, was pulled out of his car in Porbandar by five to six persons and was stabbed in his stomach three years back but her health is quite good now just as his resolve. For the attack on July 25, 2011 Dewani has alleged that minister Babu Bokhiria was behind the murderous attempt. He has filed a petition in the high court accusing Bokhiria of running illegal mines in the Porbandar district and is likely to join AAP soon.
· Jaysukh Bhambhania (42) was attacked with swords and pipes on August 24, 2011 followed by a failed acid attack. He was attacked after he filed an application under the RTI Act seeking information regarding construction of a restaurant and bogus license issued by RTO to bike-vendors. He alleged that some local politicians and government officers were behind the murderous attack.
· Manisha Goswami was attacked on September 21, 2011 when she filed an application under the RTI attack seeking details of environment clearances obtained by a private firm. She survived and is now living in Vapi.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has backed its leader saying that such mistakes happen while citing a similar gaffe by the then US President George W Bush who had offered his condolences saying that the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat had died (Arafat was alive).
Nevertheless, the offering of obituary by Kejriwal has directed the attention to the RTI activists who have been attacked for filing an application.