Political unity against RTI
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: August 17, 2013 -

It is a common belief of the people that political parties in India cannot see eye to eye or speak in one voice on any issue.

But this long held belief seems to have been proved wrong this time when all the political parties of different hue and ideologies voiced their support for keeping themselves out of the ambit of Right to Information Act.

And this has only reconfirmed yet another long held common belief of the people that deep down all the political parties, regardless of their ideologues, are same everywhere when it comes to dirty politics.

On June 4 last, while acting on an RTI application seeking details on the finances of political parties, a full bench of Central Information Commission (CIC) comprising its Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra and Information Commissioners ML Sharma and Annapurna Dixit had ruled that political parties should be brought under the ambit of RTI Act as they are answerable to the people.

Although RTI activists and other civil society members have hailed the ruling of the CIC as 'a new benchmark' in ushering in transparency in politics, panic stricken political parties have raised strong objection to the move.

Emboldened by the protest from across the political spectrum, political parties like Congress and BJP which have made cautious welcoming statements initially, are also now calling for remedial measures to neutralise the effect of the CIC ruling.

This kind of rare unity among the political classes has compelled us to question why the political parties are so afraid of RTI Act?

When the RTI Act is applicable to the government, why should the political parties, which are responsible for forming the government in a democratic country, be excluded from the purview of the same Act?

If there is rule of law in the country and everyone is treated equally in the eyes of law, then why the political parties and politicians should be placed above the law?

To justify their claim for exclusion from the ambit of the RTI Act, political parties which are opposed to inclusion under RTI need to answer these questions.

Otherwise, no political parties should have the right to speak for the public.

If the political parties are actually concerned about maintaining the sanctity of democratic institutions in the country, then they need to look beyond their party finances.

At a time when people have started losing their faith in Indian democracy with concepts like 'transparency' and 'accountability' reduced to some high sounding slogans for the politicians to mouth at public platforms, the political parties should actually accept the verdict of CIC to win back the lost trust of the people.

This would also increase their credibility in the eyes of the people without whose support; there is no importance of any political party?

Perhaps, it is time for the public to start a 'No RTI, No Vote' campaign to teach a lesson to the political parties which are banding together to keep themselves out of RTI.