IN-FOCUS: Indefinite fast against proposed amendment to RTI Act
DailySouthAsian
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INDEFINITE FAST AGAINST PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO RightToInformation Act
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Noted senior activist and Magsaysay Awardee 2002 Dr Sandeep Pandey shall begin
an indefinite fast at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi from August 8, 2006, to protest
against the proposed amendments to RTI Act. Several committed activists are
likely to join the crusade. Read more...


....E X C E R P T S .............
"THIS IS A BATTLE BETWEEN BUREAUCRACY AND LEADERSHIP WANTING TO CONTINUE TO
FUNCTION WITHOUT BEING ACCOUNTABLE TO THE CITIZENS AND A CITIZENRY NOW BENT
UPON MAKING THE PROCESS OF GOVERNANCE TRANSPARENT TO THE PEOPLE. THIS IS A
STRUGGLE TO REALIZE THE DREAM OF REAL DEMOCRACY. THE HISTORY OF THIS COUNTRY
SHOWS THAT PEOPLE WILL NEVER TOLERATE AUTHORITARIAN RULE AND WILL OVERTHROW
ANYONE TRYING TO RIDE ROUGHSHOD OVER THEM. IT IS TIME ONCE AGAIN TO TEACH A
LESSON TO OUR RULERS, WHO OFTEN FORGET THAT THEY ENJOY THE PRIVILEGES ONLY IN
THE NAME OF THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY. PEOPLE ARE SUPREME IN A DEMOCRACY AND
THEY’LL DEMONSTRATE IT TO THEIR RULERS - Sandeep Pandey
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The recent decision by the Central Cabinet to amend the Right to
Information Act to exclude file notings, cabinet papers and answer sheets of
examinations from its purview is an anti-democratic step. The passage of RTI
Act by the UPA Government was a milestone in the history of our country,
empowering its citizens for the first time to experience true democratic spirit
by allowing access to information about how decisions are taken and money is
spent. This would have brought an end to the arbitrary manner in which our
bureaucracy and leadership function in the name of the people.

However, the Central Government seems to be quite worried about the
implications of all decisions becoming public, which will probably expose the
irregularities in the decision making process and will then raise questions on
how these decisions were taken. The citizen of a democracy has a right to know
how all decisions are taken and no section of bureaucracy or leadership should
be left immune to this Act. Information of the kind which has been left out of
the ambit of this Act, like that which is supposed to sensitive to the security
of the country and the state of Jammu & Kashmir, must be also brought within
the purview of this Act. Often arbitrary actions involving huge embezzlement of
funds and gross human rights violations are justified in the name of national
security.

To protest against this attempt to tamper with the RTI Act by the
Central Cabinet, I propose to begin a fast from 8th August, 2006 at Jantar
Mantar, New Delhi. The Cabinet will have to take this step back otherwise face
the consequences of an awakened citizenry committed to fighting to the end to
save their due right. This is a battle between bureaucracy and leadership
wanting to continue to function without being accountable to the citizens and a
citizenry now bent upon making the process of governance transparent to the
people. This is a struggle to realize the dream of real democracy. The history
of this country shows that people will never tolerate authoritarian rule and
will overthrow anyone trying to ride roughshod over them. It is time once again
to teach a lesson to our rulers, who often forget that they enjoy the
privileges only in the name of the people of this country. People are supreme
in a democracy and they’ll demonstrate it to their rulers.

Sandeep Pandey
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Contacts: Phones: in Delhi: 9313106745 (Faisal Khan), 9871602612 (Rajeshwar
Ojha) and in Lucknow: 9415022772 (Arundhati Dhuru)
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Contact email: ashaashram@...
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