"Setback" to Gujarat govt: Information commissioner orders release of report on death of 3 Thangarh Dalits

In a major setback to the Gujarat government, the state information commission, official watchdog of the right to information (RTI) Act, has ordered immediate release of the one-person inquiry report on the September 22-23, 2012 Thangarh police firing of Saurashtra region.
Prepared by Sanjay Prasad, IAS, who then served as principal secretary, social justice and empowerment department, the report is said to have indicted senior police officials for ordering the police firing, which led to the death of three Dalit youths during protest rallies on two consecutive days.
The report on the police firing in the industrial town of Thangarh, situated in Surendranagar district, was submitted by Prasad on May 1, 2013, and despite repeated pleas by Dalit rights activists, especially those with the Navsarjan Trust in Ahmedabad, to release it, the state government refused to do it.
Ruling against the refusal to release the report, state information commissioner VS Gadhvi, in his order dated August 22, 2016, insisted that the Gujarat government should take “immediate action” on the release of the report, insisting, “Its copies should be provided to the applicant.”
The RTI plea for releasing the report was made by Kirit Rathod, a senior activist of Navsarjan Trust, last year. The final hearing on refusal to release the report took place in the state information commission on August 5, 2016.
Apprehending that the Gujarat government may not even now release the report, Navsarjan Trust executive director Manjula Pradeep, addressing a media conference, has warned, “If this happens, we will hesitate to knock the doors of the Gujarat High Court.”
Added Rathod, “What 182 MLAs of the Gujarat state assembly failed to do, was made possible on the basis of pursuing a simple RTI plea and its hearings.”
The state government has refused to release the report under Section 8(1) of the RTI Act, which, among other things, exempts the state to disclose any information that would cause a breach of privilege of Parliament or the State Legislature.
The state government has been contending, the Sanjay Prasad report would be first submitted to the state assembly before it is made public. Yet, things have failed to move.
Gadhvi in his order notes, the argument that the report has not been placed in the state assembly “does not stand” as it is “not necessary”, adding, “Release of the report in no way violates the privilege of the state assembly.”
The order to release the report becomes particularly important following the Gujarat government’s recent decision to form a special investigation team (SIT) to reinvestigate the firing incident. While the police had closed its investigation, the decision of the state government has given a new hope to Dalit rights activist that, finally, the truth would be out.
Meanwhile, father of one of the three Dalit youths (Valjibhai Rathiod, father of Mehul Rathod, who died in police in police firing) has said that he would organize a major protest against the state government if it does not release the report within the next 10 days.

Comments

Dalit rights and political tensions: Why is Mevani at odds with Congress leadership?

While I have known Jignesh Mevani, one of the dozen-odd Congress MLAs from Gujarat, ever since my Gandhinagar days—when he was a young activist aligned with well-known human rights lawyer Mukul Sinha’s organisation, Jan Sangharsh Manch—he became famous following the July 2016 Una Dalit atrocity, in which seven members of a family were brutally assaulted by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes while skinning a dead cow, a traditional occupation among Dalits.

Powering pollution, heating homes: Why are Delhi residents opposing incineration-based waste management

While going through the 50-odd-page report Burning Waste, Warming Cities? Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Incineration and Urban Heat in Delhi , authored by Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran of the well-known advocacy group Centre for Financial Accountability, I came across a reference to Sukhdev Vihar — a place where I lived for almost a decade before moving to Moscow in 1986 as the foreign correspondent of the daily Patriot and weekly Link .

Boeing 787 under scrutiny again after Ahmedabad crash: Whistleblower warnings resurface

A heart-wrenching tragedy has taken place in Ahmedabad. As widely reported, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed shortly after taking off from the city’s airport, currently operated by India’s top tycoon, Gautam Adani. The aircraft was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members. As expected, the crash has led to an outpouring of grief across the country. At the same time, there have been demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Civil Aviation Minister.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Global NGO slams India for media clampdown during conflict, downplays Pakistan

A global civil rights group, Civicus has taken strong exception to how critical commentaries during the “recent conflict” with Pakistan were censored in India, with journalists getting “targeted”. I have no quarrel with the Civicus view, as the facts mentioned in it are all true.

Whither SCOPE? Twelve years on, Gujarat’s official English remains frozen in time

While writing my previous blog on how and why Narendra Modi went out of his way to promote English when he was Gujarat chief minister — despite opposition from people in the Sangh Parivar — I came across an interesting write-up by Aakar Patel, a well-known name among journalists and civil society circles.

Remembering Vijay Rupani: A quiet BJP leader who listened beyond party lines

Late evening on June 12, a senior sociologist of Indian origin, who lives in Vienna, asked me a pointed question: Of the 241 persons who died as a result of the devastating plane crash in Ahmedabad the other day, did I know anyone? I had no hesitation in telling her: former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, whom I described to her as "one of the more sensible persons in the BJP leadership."

Why India’s renewable energy sector struggles under 2,735 compliance hurdles

Recently, during a conversation with an industry representative, I was told how easy it is to set up a startup in Singapore compared to India. This gentleman, who had recently visited Singapore, explained that one of the key reasons Indians living in the Southeast Asian nation prefer establishing startups there is because the government is “extremely supportive” when it comes to obtaining clearances. “They don’t want to shift operations to India due to the large number of bureaucratic hurdles,” he remarked.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Search This Blog