New Delhi: The issue of RTI activist Shehla
Masood`s murder in Bhopal had its echo in Rajya Sabha with a
CPI-M member demanding urgent steps for protection of
whistleblowers and expressing serious concern over their
killings in the country.
Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, Moin-ul-Hassan
(CPI-M) said the RTI activist was killed on a day when lakhs
of people in the country were out in the streets protesting
corruption.
Hassan said at least 10 RTI activists were killed in
various parts of the country last year and drew the attention
of the government towards the "urgent need" to provide
security to the whistleblowers.
He said the purpose of the RTI Act will lose its relevance
if the killings of the whistleblowers continued.
Hassan said the Bhopal police was of the view that
Masood`s campaign for wild life protection and conservation
might have hurt certain sections that led to her killing.
The CPI-M member said while RTI Act was to ensure that
people have a right to information, the RTI activists are
getting killed.
Shehla was found shot dead inside her car in front of her
house in the Koh-e-Fiza locality in Bhopal on August 16. She
had gone on fast recently in support of Anna Hazare`s
anti-corruption campaign.
She was also involved in other cases, including wildlife
conservation, and the issue of deaths of tigers in sanctuaries
in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh. The Congress has demanded a CBI
probe into the issue.
PTI
