Order audit RTI info sought by Gujarat Dalit activist attacked by goons: Letter to Rupani

Amit Parmar in hospital

Counterview Desk
The National Campaign for Peoples Right to Information (NCPRI) has asked Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani to conduct "a thorough, timely and effective investigation" into the attack on Dalit Right to Information (RTI) activist Amit Parmar and his brother in Botad town, 150 km south-west of Ahmedabad.
Brutally attacked with iron rods by four unidentified assailants, allegedly at the behest of the family of the sarpanch when he and his brother were travelling on motorbike around 2:30 pm on November 24, 2019, Parmar was immediately rushed to the Bhavnagar Civil Hospital where he is currently receiving treatment for multiple fractures on his legs and hands.
Parmar had filed an RTI application seeking information from the government regarding the amount received and details of spending by the sarpanch under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana/Indira Housing Scheme in the past 20 years, for which he had received threats.
Asking Rupani to ensure "appropriate orders to conduct a special audit as per the procedure laid down for all programmes/schemes of the Ministry of Rural Development", NCPRI has urged him to immediately direct the concerned public authorities to disclose all the information sought by Parmar and give it wide publicity, which could act as a deterrent against such attacks in the future.
Signed among others by Anjali Bhardwaj, Pankti Jog, Nikhil Dey, Venkatesh Nayak, Rakesh Dubbudu, Pradip Pradhan and Dr Shaikh, a copy of the letter has been sent to thr State Chief Information Commissioner of the Gujarat Information Commission and the DGP of Gujarat.

Text:

The National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information (NCPRI) is gravely concerned about the reported life-threatening attack on young Dalit RTI activist Amit Parmar, aged 27, in Khopala village, Botab, Gujarat. According to media reports and copy of the First Information Report (FIR) filed by Parmar, he was brutally attacked by four unidentified assailants at the behest of the family of the Sarpanch when he and his brother were travelling on motorbike around 2:30 pm on November 24, 2019.
The assailants allegedly attacked Parmar with iron rods and roughed up his older brother. Amit Parmar was immediately rushed to Bhavnagar Civil Hospital where he is currently receiving treatment for multiple fractures on his legs and hands.
Parmar had filed an RTI application earlier this month seeking information from the government regarding the amount received and details of spending by the sarpanch under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana/Indira Housing Scheme in the past 20 years.
Prior to the attack Parmar had also received threats and had been pressurized by the family of the sarpanch to withdraw the application. Parmar had also previously actively campaigned against the illegal plantation of cotton and mango saplings in the pastoral land of the village by the sarpanch.
NCPRI strongly condemns this attack and demands that the Gujarat government conduct a thorough, timely and effective investigation into the attack on Parmar and his brother. The NCPRI also urges the state government to immediately direct the concerned public authorities to disclose all the information sought by Parmar and give it wide publicity, which could act as a deterrent against such attacks in the future.
Further, we urge the state government to issue appropriate orders to conduct a special audit as per the procedure laid down in the Standard Operating Procedure for operationalizing provisions of Section 27 (2) of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) circulated by the Ministry of Rural D evelopment, applicable to all programmes/schemes of the Ministry of Rural Development.
This would further help in promoting accountability and transparency at the grassroots level and disseminate the message that violence against RTI activist will not fail to stop enquiries and public monitoring.
The rising numbers of attacks and murders of RTI activists across the country and especially in the state of Gujarat are extremely concerning. In June earlier this year, Rajesh Sondarva, son of slain RTI activist Nanjibhai Sondarva was killed in Rajkot district, Gujarat.
We urge the state government to push for the effective implementation of Whistleblowers’ Protection Act, which provides important provision for protection for people who expose corruption and wrongdoing and safeguards against their victimization.

Comments

Academics urge Azim Premji University to drop FIR against Student Reading Circle

By A Representative A group of academics and civil society members has issued an open letter to the leadership of Azim Premji University expressing concern over the filing of a police complaint that led to an FIR against a student-run reading circle following a recent incident of violence on campus. The signatories state that they hold the university in high regard for its commitment to constitutional values, critical inquiry and ethical public engagement, and argue that it is precisely because of this reputation that the present development is troubling.

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

By Rajiv Shah This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.

Love letters in a lifelong war: Babusha Kohli’s resistance in verse

By Ravi Ranjan* “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Bertrand Russell’s words echo hauntingly in our times, and few contemporary Hindi poets embody this truth as profoundly as Babusha Kohli. Emerging from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Kohli has carved a unique space in literature by weaving together tenderness, protest, and philosophy across poetry, prose, and cinema. Her work is not merely artistic expression—it is resistance, refuge, and a call for peace.

UAPA action against Telangana activist: Criminalising legitimate democratic activity?

By A Representative The National Investigation Agency's Hyderabad branch has issued notices to more than ten individuals in Telangana in connection with FIR No. RC-04/2025. Those served include activists, former student leaders, civil rights advocates, poets, writers, retired schoolteachers, and local leaders associated with the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Indian National Congress.

Asbestos contamination in children’s products highlights global oversight gaps

By A Representative A commentary published by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) has drawn attention to the challenges governments face in responding effectively to global public-health risks. In an article written by Laurie Kazan-Allen and published on March 5, 2026, the author examines how the discovery of asbestos contamination in children’s play products has raised questions about regulatory oversight and international product safety. The article opens by reflecting on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that governments in several countries were slow to respond to early warning signs of the crisis. Referring to the experience of the United Kingdom, the author writes that delays in implementing protective measures contributed to “232,112 recorded deaths and over a million people suffering from long Covid.” The commentary uses this example to illustrate what it describes as the dangers of underestimating emerging threats. Attention then turns...

Aligning too closely with U.S., allies, India’s silence on IRIS Dena raises troubling questions

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* The reported sinking of the Iranian ship IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka raises troubling questions about international norms and the credibility of the so-called rule-based order. If indeed the vessel was attacked by the American Navy while returning from a joint exercise in Visakhapatnam, it would represent a serious breach of trust and a violation of the principles that govern such cooperative engagements. Warships participating in these exercises are generally not armed for combat; they are meant to symbolize solidarity and friendship. The incident, therefore, is not only shocking but also deeply ironic.

The kitchen as prison: A feminist elegy for domestic slavery

By Garima Srivastava* Kumar Ambuj stands as one of the most incisive voices in contemporary Hindi poetry. His work, stripped of ornamentation, speaks directly to the lived realities of India’s marginalized—women, the rural poor, and those crushed under invisible forms of violence. His celebrated poem “Women Who Cook” (Khānā Banātī Striyāṃ) is not merely about food preparation; it is a searing indictment of patriarchal domestic structures that reduce women’s existence to endless, unpaid labour.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

India’s foreign policy at crossroads: Cost of silence in the face of aggression

By Venkatesh Narayanan, Sandeep Pandey The widely anticipated yet unprovoked attack on Iran on March 1 by the United States and Israel has drawn sharp criticism from several quarters around the world. Reports indicate that the strikes have resulted in significant civilian casualties, including 165 elementary school girls, 20 female volleyball players, and many other civilians.

Search This Blog