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Around two weeks ago, Rakesh Dubbudu’s parents in Warangal had unexpected visitors: officials from the Intelligence Bureau (IB). The IB officials enquired about Dubbudu and his work.

Dubbudu, who is a Hyderabad-based Right to Information (RTI) activist and runs the news website, Factly, told me over the phone that his parents asked the officials to get in touch with him directly and shared his phone number with them.

The visit was not random. Dubbudu had been nominated by the Andhra Pradesh State Information Commission to participate in the Central Information Commission’s annual RTI convention that is underway in the capital. The RTI, on October 12, completed 10 years – and Dubbudu was excited to be part of what he calls a “moment of celebration”.  However, Dubbudu recently learnt that he is not welcome. The central government did not send him an invite. In fact, he claims he has been categorically told that he wouldn’t be allowed inside Vigyan Bhavan, the venue of the convention and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inaugural speech.

“I got a call from an IB official, and I was asked about the work I do and my organisation,” said Dubbudu. According to “government sources” quoted in an NDTV report, it was a routine verification. Dubbudu, however, refused to buy that. “I have worked closely with the state government on RTI-related issues for the last few years. In fact, I worked on a Department of Personnel and Training fellowship last year – they can’t possibly not have my background details.”

Dubbudu is not the only RTI activist who has not been extended an invite in spite of being nominated by the state Information Commission. In fact, only nine activists have been invited to be part of the convention, leading to RTI activists boycotting the event altogether. According to an RTI activist, who did not wish to be named, there will be no representation from civil society at all with the exception of RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal. The National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI), it is learnt, will shun the event.

RTI activist Bhaskar Prabhu, convener of Mahiti Adhikar Manch, Mumbai, who was nominated by the Maharashtra’s Information Commission, told me that a background check was carried out on him too. According to him, IB sleuths called up one of his long-time associates, Vijay Kumbhar, to enquire about him. “The official asked me about Prabhu’s politics and his views on the current dispensation,” said Kumbhar, adding that all of this is very strange and is happening for the first time. “This is an annual event – and I have attended it in the previous years, but nothing of this sort has happened,” said Kumbhar, who too was nominated by the state Information Commission.

According to sources, activists were initially told they were welcome irrespective of the invite, but the Central Information Commission has now conveyed to activists that they wouldn’t be allowed in the Prime Minister’s session. This, according to the source, is because the Home Ministry is wary of letting in activists inside the venue without a personal background check. Our calls to SP Beck, joint secretary (administration), CIC, to confirm the development went unanswered. Our email to the Home Ministry’s Publicity Officer, K S Dhatwalia, also went unanswered.

“It is strange that they view us as a security threat now,” said Prabhu. The government’s paranoia is a little absurd since activists were nominated by the state Information Commissions – a statutory body.

Some RTI activists, though, have turned up at Vigyan Bhavan today. “It is a function organised on our money and we’ve come here on our expense – there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be allowed,” said Khumbar.