By Rohan Shiri (edited by Rajendar Kumar)
RTI Activists
Mangaluru, Mar 29: It was a well-planned murder plot. It was the start of the week and Vinayak Baliga, who was always punctual, got up and dressed to go to the temple, after which he had promised to take his aged father to have coffee at Hotel Taj Mahal. But as fate would have it, at 5:30 am on Monday March 21, Vinayak Baliga was hacked to death by two helmet wearing motorcyclists right in front of his house. This cold-blooded murder was not only designed to kill him but also to silence the RTI activity in the city by creating fear in activists' hearts. Many have strongly condemned such cowardly acts. The police department has taken all required measures in the interest of providing justice and has achieved initial success in arresting a few culprits.
Many individuals who share a concern for the welfare of the society visited Baliga's house to pay homage to the departed soul. They were informed by the family members that Baliga had sought a lot of RTIs against electricity department, illegal buildings in the city and irregularities in temple administration. He was a self-made man and always fought for the rights of the people. He always helped others and spoke out against injustices. He had always kept his appointments up-to-date in a dairy, and whatever he did, he never shared it with his family members and they never knew what he was doing. His neat bundle of papers was taken by the police and is under investigation.
There are many such Baligas doing their work silently and systematically, many a time not getting associated to any group or political party. These silent RTI activists are a threat to all those corrupt persons who use all unfair means to meet their objectives. These silent RTI activists become a soft target for the corrupt persons who use all their might including murder to silence them. Baliga is a standing example of the atrocities of these corrupt mafia who have found loopholes in the system to scoop out revenue for themselves and their corrupt political partners. Nowadays even RTI reply is getting diluted and there are high chance that you may get a wrong answer from a wrong department or an answer given that it is not within our jurisdiction.
Corruption is now not in the system, but has 'become the system'; everyone knows that when you buy land or a flat, no one registers the same for 100% valuation, but anywhere between 30-60%, and this rule applies for law makers also. You cannot get a government job without paying a few lacs, and nowadays even transfer and promotion means you need to shell out some lacs. So everyone is getting used to this system, but when RTI activists ask questions on this kind of corruption, it angers the corrupt as to how can anyone question this system, and hence they feel it is better to eliminate the source so that the system is not disturbed.
Now the government has intiated the move to have ACB so that Lokayuta will not only be toothless, but also without any claws to even scratch the corrupt. This fully fool-proof system should be considered as a feather in the cap of our present government to protect the corrupt - Now the corrupt can at least sleep without the fear of being caught.
RTI activists are born fearless. They fight for the cause of the public, to see that the system is changed for our next generation. This move (to set up ACB) by the government looks like that their dream will take longer time to be released. Neverthelles, hope will always fly high that one day India would be free from these corrupt.
It is not easy to silence these silent RTI activists as public understand their strength and hence they stand by with them. RTI activists are targeted for their commitment to bring about changes. But by working as individuals they have become easy targets. Therefore, it is time for all RTI activists to join hands and become stronger. If a corrupt mafia can join hands for their very survival, why not the RTI activists stand united and thus become mightier than the corrupt system?
If you are an RTI activist, it is time to join hands together. We request all RTI activists in Dakshina Kannada to come together as one team, contact or SMS 9449058411 to move forward.