By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Bengaluru: The application of Firoz M. Khan, a RTI activist and follower of Sufi saint Baba Budan, seeking copies of old records pertaining to Bababudangiri shrine, under RTI Act (2005) has been bizarrely been rejected on grounds of ‘national security.’
On March 6, 2013 Firoz had filed the RTI application. In a reply to his query, the Public Information Officer stated that the sought documents “cannot be provided as per Section 8 (1) (a) of the RTI Act”.
Section 8 (1) of India’s Right to Information (RTI) Act states, that “there shall be no obligation to give any citizen information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interest of the state, relation with foreign state or lead to incitement of an offence.”
Expressing his astonishment, Firoz told the national daily, The Hindu, “The archival documents are crucial for evidence in the court case which relates to the religious nature of the shrine. I do not understand how the existing material on the shrine can pose a threat of any kind.”
The shrine or dargah of Baba Budan, also venerated as the seat of the seer Dattareya by Hindus in the hills of Chikmagalur, Karnataka has raked up controversy for almost two decades now. Once a peaceful pilgrimage centre for both Muslims and Hindus, it has now turned into a bone of contention between the two religious communities, thanks to the efforts of Hindutva forces, who wanted to and have to a great extent turned it to the ‘Ayodhya of the south’.
In 2009, the BJP ruled government of Karnataka, installed a deity in the Baba Budan hills and performed puja, in clear violation of a Supreme Court stay order in an ongoing lawsuit; they also vowed to build a temple at the spot.
Last month, in continuation of its nefarious agenda the BJP government also denied the existence of a dargah or mosque near the cave shrine, contrary to the historical recorded evidence, which states otherwise.