CRPF denies RTI information to man as he is ‘Muslim’

In a bizarre incident, a CRPF DIG in reply to a RTI query has said that since the applicant is “a Muslim, a religion associated with terrorism, he could not be given the information sought by him due to security reasons.”

The incident relates to an RTI query sought by one Shams Tabrez, a resident of Usiya village in Ghazipur district, about the grounds on which he was not selected for the post of constable at a recruitment drive held at the centre.

According to Shams, a paragraph in the letter states that he could not be given the documents that he had sought because he belonged to the Muslim community, which is a religion of terrorists. “This kind of response is bizarre,” he said.

Shams, after receiving the response, sent a letter to the Allahabad group centre of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

An internal inquiry conducted by officials at the centre found that it did receive the said query in November 2015 about its recruitment process, but the reply sent early last month did not contain the objectionable reference. It was apparently inserted later on by a mischief maker.

Central Reserve Police Force DIG D.K. Tripathi, who is also the central information officer (CIO) at the centre, said that the original letter issued against the particular RTI query did not have the paragraph in question.

“We have come to know about the issue and will soon be lodging an FIR with the Allahabad police in connection with the said CRPF reply to the RTI query,” he said.

Shams Tabrez had appeared for recruitment as a constable at the Allahabad centre in 2010 and was not selected.

In December 2012, he moved an RTI query addressed to the Director-General, CRPF, seeking details of why he was not selected.

In the year 2013, he got a reply from the paramilitary force stating that he was not selected as he was medically unfit. He later sought details of his medical test and received this response which pointed to his religion.