biography of activist

http://freeblogin.com/amit-jethwa-rti-activist-and-green-crusader/
Amit jethwa ( also Amit jethava ) was an Indian environmentalist and social worker active in the gir forest area- natural habitat of Asiatic lion near Junagadh, Gujarat. Amit jethwa was a amazing force by himself. A young tall well built environment activist had dynamic personality who was active in Gujarat state on environment issues.

prominent activist Amit jethwa

He started his carrier as a pharmacist in government hospital. from then he observed corruption and malfunction in government system. As a native person of gir forest area he was emotionally attached to lions and environment. He was founder president of regional local youth club named Gir nature youth club of young environmentalist. The group has grown large with more than 4000 active members. Club has its own vigilance team to keep an eye on illegal hunt and killing of sea turtles, whale shark through out the coastal area of gujarat.He had organized a nature lovers yatra in southern Saurashtra belt. Be it about saving marine turtles,or Chinkara, lion, leopard, tree, birds or crocodile, Jethwa was there at service in Kutch, Saurashtra and Ahmedabad. He was one stop resource for any information regarding Gir forest and forest department’s handling of affairs there. He had amazing grip over South western Saurashtra areas, especially ecological and environment related issues.

In the lion poaching case of 2007, Jethava was among the first to blow the whistle on the mysterious deaths of lions in Gir forest. He later campaigned against shifting of lions to the Kuno Palpur national park in Madhya Pradesh. In the Aamir Khan chinkara poaching incident Jethava had earlier filed a writ petition in HC seeking quashing orders against a Bhuj court which stayed an inquiry against Khan.

Be it lion poaching, illegal mining, the famous Aamir Khan-chinkara poaching case, the appointment of information commissioners in Gujarat—Jethava used RTI and public interest litigations (PIL) as weapons to fight for public issues. In his latest case Jethava had dragged the state government to Gujarat High Court regarding the appointment of an ombudsman or Lokayukta for Gujarat which has been pending since 2003.

He started a program called ‘mahiti adhikar nagarik mandal (peoples group of right to information)’ to aware people about use of new act. Since 2006 Jethava spearheaded the RTI campaign in Khamba. Every month he and his team would organise mass awareness programmes regarding the new law. From school students to retired employees, women and small traders had been using this new tool in his taluka to get their rights. He also actively pursued the provisions of the RTI Act for addressing grievances, and conducted workshops on the procedure to file requests under RTI to prevent corrupt practices and other mal-administration.

Since 2008, he had filed a number of RTI applications probing the activities of an illegal mining lobby operating in the protected forest area just outside the Gir National Park. In mid 2010, he also filed a Public Interest Litigation in the Gujarat High Court, citing evidence found through RTI naming BJP MP Dinu Solanki and his several relatives, for involvement in the illegal mining in the Gir Forest.

Jethava had spearheaded the campaign against rising case pendency in the Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) due to lack of commissioners. It was on his petition that the HC directed the state government to complete the appointments within a stipulated time. He had also filed a PIL petition questioning the state government’s inaction over the appointment of Lokayukt.
He again came to the rescue of thousands of RTI users by filing a writ petition in the HC and made the government accept Indian Postal Order (IPO) as one of the modes of payment to deposit fees while filing of RTI applications.

With the suitable use of RTI, he had filed several court cases against illegal mining in the protected area, by which a large number of influential persons of that area, including Dinu Solanki, the BJP MP from Junagarh, were getting adversely affected. His fight against encroachment of forests and poaching had become legendary in that area.In beginning of July 2010 he filed case in gujarat high court against illegal mining naming BJP MP Dinu Solanki and his nephew Shiva solanki as the respondant. soon after this PIL he was shot dead by two motor cycle born assailant on 20th July 2010 right opposite side of gujarat high court. his father named Dinu and Shiva Solanki as the persons who gave contract for eliminate green activist.

Amit was irreplaceable. He was a force, rare in this time. He was not facebook or twitter or blogger activist, he was an activist on ground equipped with all needed tools to fight for truth. His murder is very shocking. He could do more for Gujarat. It’s a tremendous
loss.The National RTI Forum of India presents the Satish Shetty RTI Gallantry award to Amit Jethwa posthumously.

Murder of Truth by Governments in India

http://matheikal.wordpress.com/2010/08/31/murder-of-truth/

Amit Jethava

Amit Jethwa, 33, was killed in broad daylight near the Gujarat High Court on July 20.  He had been campaigning to prevent mining around the Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary.  He used RTI and other legal provisions to advance his campaign.  He received many threats from the ruling BJP’s MP from Junagadh.  The BJP Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, is acclaimed for bringing industrial development to the state.  He is also famous for eliminating large numbers of people for political benefits for himself and his party.  Modi may not be directly involved in the murder of Jethwa.  But can he and his party not bring development to the state without murdering people, especially people who stand for truth and justice?

The malady is not confined to Gujarat alone, however.  Satish Shetty, Dattatraya Patil, Arun Sawant and Vitthal Gite are victims of the murderers of truth in Maharashtra.  Shashidhar Mishra of Bihar, Vijay Pratap of UP and Sola Ranga Rao of AP also fell victims to mafia attacks because they all questioned certain corrupt practices using RTI.

Frontline quotes Arvind Kejriwal, RTI activist and Magsaysay award winner: “Those who indulge in corruption have become so aggressive, so bold and so intolerant that they don’t even fear the law and order machinery.”

The hijacking of law and order by criminals in connivance with the authorities who are supposed to uphold law and order is what is appalling.  When the government itself becomes an embodiment of criminality what will the citizens do?  Who but the government will be responsible for the emergence of extremist groups like the Maoists?

Instead of rectifying the situation by cleaning up the stables, the governments are trying to reign in the provisions in RTI.  Many amendments are being sought in the RTI Act.  Eventually the Act will be made ineffective by the governments.

George Bernard Shaw said, “Power does not corrupt men; but fools, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power.”  India seems to have become a country where power is corrupted absolutely.

RTI should not be casualty of corrupt bureaucrats

The Pioneer

The Right To Information (RTI) should not become a casualty of corrupt bureaucrats and others and it is quite disturbing to hear about threats to RTI activists, Law Minister M Veerappa Moily said on Monday.

Reacting to murder of Right To Information activists in parts of the country, he said, “There are instances of attacks on Right To Information activists. Some of them are Amit Jethwa, an environmentalist in Gujarat, and Satish Shetty, an activist in Maharashtra. These attacks and killings have to be taken seriously and dealt with an iron hand,” Moily said at the 5th annual convention of Central Information Commission. 

selective amnesia

the pioneer

The Congress was quick to return fire on the Geeta Johri issue. Party spokesman Manish Tewari told reporters, “The issue of CBI misuse was raised...It is selective amnesia. I want to ask the BJP, the CBI was right in Haren Pandya case but wrong in the case of Amit Shah. They are now citing Geeta Johri but forgetting the father of Haren Pandya, who had pointed a finger at Narendra Modi.”

The BJP has “double standards” on the issue, Tewari said, adding that RTI activist Amit Jethwa’s father wanted his murder case to be handed over to the CBI as he did not trust the State Government, “descri-bed as a modern day Nero by the Supreme Court”. 

Jethava murder culprit nabbed

http://www.dailypioneer.com/281534/Jethava-murder-culprit-nabbed.html


The main culprit in the murder of RTI activist Amit Jethava was arrested from Rajkot airport on Tuesday. Shiva Solanki, whose illegal mobile tower and minerals transport businesses were severely affected due to Jethava’s activism, was nabbed by the Crime Branch cops minutes before he was about to board a Mumbai bound flight from Rajkot.

He is the nephew of Junagadh MP Dinubhai Solanki whom slain Jethava’s father had blamed for the RTI activist’s murder outside the Gujarat High Court on July 20.

The police had earlier arrested a constable who had allegedly arranged the contract killing with a payment of `10 lakh.

Further investigations have revealed that the main kingpin of the contract killing was Shiva Solanki whose illegal mobile tower business had suffered losses due to the RTI activist’s petitions, police sources said.