The Manhole Activist

By Manuwant Choudhary

Outside a tiny roadside restaurant in Patna I found a man argue with three workers who were fixing a manhole...he told them with some confidence, "Either you fix it right or I will file an FIR with the police saying you have swindled govt. money you took to do the job."

The man was the restaurant owner and the problem was that the workers had laid some telephone cables underground but they failed to fix the manhole properly at the level of the road.

The workers realised that the man was serious.

As I finished my lunch and came out I saw the workers had left, the manhole had been fixed properly except some rubble remained.

And the man who forced the workers to do their job stood alone.

I congratulated him for his activism and told him if every Indian was so vigilant then India would be a developed country.

He said his name was Rajesh Gupta and this was the only business he owned.

He then told, "Yeh kya hai..main do do Superintendant of police aur do judge par bhee case kiya hua hoon." (Oh this is nothing I have filed two cases on two SPs and two judges !)

This is his story.

"My father ran this restaurant for 30 years but now I run it..I have it registered after paying stamp paper but the government claims the land is theirs..they want me to leave and since I didnt...the police arrested me, took me to a judge's kothi at midnight and sent me to prison the next morning."

"When I was produced before the same judge I asked him if the police had ever produced anyone with a dacoity charge or kidnapping or murder at that hour at his home...and that he must check the records as he had no such cases against him."

The judge granted him bail.

Mr. Gupta continued, "I am an RTI activist too. Like did you know the govt. allocation for the small park here. Its 22 crores ! I have asked them what they are going to build?

I do not own an apartment, I live in an old house and this is my only business but do you know just to live like this I have filed 22 cases in the Patna High Court.

"I have filed cases for parks to everything....even Bangladeshi ghuspaithee ! Hindus suffer a lot in this country so I fight more than any political party."

He then asked me, "Do you see anything there?"

I said, "Yes, a sign May I Help You. Its a police chowki..."

"Have you seen any policeman ever sit there?

I replied, "No, never."

He said, "But they paint the May I Help You sign every month...do you know why?

Me: No.

Him, "The story begins when you look up....See that hoarding...that sells for Rs.5 lakh !...so their aim is not to May I Help You...but to collect money from across the city...crores....sab loot-paat hai.."