Author: Moneylife Digital Team
Publication: Moneylife.in
Date: August 20, 2011
URL: http://moneylife.in/article/the-unnecessary-controversy-over-anna-hazares-spotless-army-record/19081.html
RTI activist Subhas Agrawal is surprised that
details of his query about Anna's service with the army was sought to be misused
by a ruling party spokesperson
The latest attempt by an embarrassed UPA
government, to contain the protests that continue to build up in the movement
for a strong anti-corruption law, has backfired. A Congress party spokesperson
had challenged Anna Hazare's right to lead the fight against graft, citing
alleged corruption charges against him, and claimed that Anna had refused
to come clean on his army record, as was asked for in a query under the Right
to Information (RTI) Act.
However, the reply that the RTI applicant
received shows that Anna's army record is honourable and there is nothing
more than what the 74-year-old Gandhian has claimed publicly.
Subhas Agrawal, the RTI activist who filed
the query, is surprised over the episode. First, he is unable to understand
how his correspondence with the Central Principal Information Officer (CPIO)
was leaked out to Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari. Second, the RTI application
for which he received the reply was not filed by him.
"I have not received a reply to a query
I filed on 13th April, in which I had asked six questions about Anna Hazare's
army record and the qualifications required for recruitment of army drivers
and cooks," said Mr Agrawal. "Instead, I received a reply to a 20th
June query, which was not filed by me.
However, that application had eleven questions,
on the same topics, and the reply to some of those questions shows that Anna
Hazare had an unblemished career at the army and had won some medals before
he was honourably discharged."
Kisan Baburao Hazare (who is today popularly
addressed as Anna Hazare), as the Deputy Commandant & Appellate Authority
ASC Centre (South), said in his reply to the 20th June query, that he joined
the army as a sepoy in 1963, and was honourably discharged in 1983 on completion
of his service. He received five medals, and did not suffer any punishment
during his service period.
"I don't know who filed this query,
but the reply was directed to me. May be it was a mistake on the department's
part," said Mr Agrawal. To his original query, the CPIO had replied on
27th May that since the information sought pertains to a third party (Hazare),
the CPIO had written to Mr Hazare to seek his permission for revealing his
service details.
"But what surprised me more was that
the CPIO's letter, that Mr Tiwari referred to in the 14th August press conference,
was addressed to me in response to a petition, and I have no idea how he got
hold of it." Since he hasn't received a reply for his 13th April query,
Mr Agrawal has gone for an appeal.
In his appeal, Mr Agrawal has said, "I
was shocked and surprised that the CPIO's said letter dated 21 May 2011 was
referred to by a spokesperson of the ruling party in the Union Government
in a press conference telecast by news channels, in a bid to defame Shri Kisan
Baburao Hazare. I appeal that an enquiry may kindly be made as to how the
said correspondence was leaked to a third party (ruling party spokesperson)
without inviting objections from me, as is usually done by many public authorities
including even the Central Information Commission."
