In Rajasthans Pratapgarh district , A group of civic officials allegedly beat to death a 52-year-old man on Friday when he tried to stop them from scaring and taking photographs of some women defecating in the open. Zafar Khans was a member of the CPI(ML).
That is probably one of the reasons why he resisted but was beaten mercilessly with armed police being deployed in full strength in the area. No one was arrested with the terrified family leaving with his body after a short protest demanding that the men who beat Khan be arrested. Khan, ironically, had been asking the local civic authorities to build toilets for the villages, and to repair the existing one but to no avail.
Later after this event , Haryana District Collector Maniram Sharma has been in the news, kicking a storm on the social media, with a post that was removed by him after it had kicked up a social storm. He posted a photograph of four men who have been arrested under various Sections, their nose has been rubbed on the ground, they have been thrashed as well, and with ease their pockets have also been loosened. Collector has misused his administration powers in the name of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
The drive to end open defecation cannot proceed on the basis of inflicting indignities on the poor and helpless people who have no access to private or public toilets. The present strategy of ODF campaign is giving rise to corruption, fake claims and public humiliation of deprived people. Governments must reverse this draconian strategy and unleash a positive campaign popularizing toilet use, with a focus on construction of toilets, assured availability of water, and proper arrangements for toilet-cleaning.