After Naroda Patiya witness, who’s next? Ask Gujarat's RTI activists

Around 50 RTI activists, many of whom had come from other places after having driven for 5-6 hours, held a silent protest on Sunday in the Juhapura locality of Ahmedabad. A day earlier, Nadeem Saiyed, an RTI activist and riot case witness, was hacked to death in this very locality.

Strangely, very few people of Juhapura took part in the protest despite the fact that Saiyed was a resident of this locality. While some saw this as a sign of the local people's indifference, others said that the local people were in a state of shock and were scared of Nadeem's assailants who lived in the same area.

There were no speeches but the activists appeared angry and determined in their protest. Later, some activists told DNA that they would be submitting a memorandum to the authorities demanding Rs10 lakh assistance to Saiyed's family.

Bhikhubhai Jethwa, father of RTI activist Amit Jethwa who was killed in the city last year, was also present at the protest in Juhapura. "We want to ask the head of the state government, who is the RTI activist who will be killed after Nadeem? It is surprising that the state police who were able to get information about terrorists entering the state to kill the chief minister, have no information about which RTI activist given police protection would be killed next," Bhikhubhai said bitterly. He accused the government and its leaders of orchestrating these attacks.

City-based RTI activist, Bharatsinh Zala, told DNA that Nadeem had been living with his wife and two sons in his brother's house and now they have no one to look after them and they have no source of income either. “The government must provide them assistance of Rs10 lakh," he said.  Another RTI activist, Vinod Pandya, said that with the growth in its power and influence, the state government was becoming even more authoritarian. "In such a situation, it is the people who are raising their voices.

Nadeem was an activist and it was the state government's responsibility to protect him. Yet, despite the fact that Nadeem was given police protection, the government and the police failed to protect him. His family must be given fair compensation," said Pandya.

Shivabhai Ram, RTI activist from Pipavav, said that in the last two years, the number of RTI activists to be killed as also those who had been attacked was the highest in Gujarat. "All RTI activists must be provided protection," Ram said.