CONSPIRACY TO EXCLUSE MADRI COMMUNITY FROM VOTER LISTS BY CALLING THEM ‘BANGLADESHI’ : KUNAL

CONSPIRACY TO EXCLUSE MADRI COMMUNITY FROM VOTER LISTS BY CALLING THEM ‘BANGLADESHI’ : KUNAL

26-JULY-ENG 28

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

ARA------------------------CPI-ML State Secretary Comrade Kunal has issued a statement saying that a very worrying and unconstitutional process is being adopted in the name of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter list going on in Bihar, in which a conspiracy is being hatched to declare citizens as non-citizens and exclude them from the voter list.

The latest case is of Piro of Bhojpur district, where preparations are being made to remove about 50 people of Madari community from the voter list. All these people belong to the Muslim minority community and have been living here for years, have been voting, their names have also been registered in the previous voter lists.

Comrade Kunal told that the concerned BLO (Booth Level Officer) had filled the counting form (voter verification form) for all the families. But now the ERO (Electoral Registration Officer) is saying that “All these are Bangladeshis, why are their forms being filled?” This not only reflects communal and biased mentality, but is also a blatant violation of the civil rights granted by the Constitution.

The CPI-ML has sent a letter to the Election Commission on this issue and demanded that such unconstitutional and discriminatory actions be stopped immediately.

Comrade Kunal raised the question that if a community living in India for years can be excluded from the voter list by calling them Bangladeshi without any valid proof, then this is a direct attack on the right to vote. The responsibility of the Election Commission should be to integrate the citizens into the mainstream, not to deprive them of citizenship.

He further said that this SIR process going on in Bihar is a direct attack on the right to vote granted by the Constitution. The 11 types of documents being demanded in this process seem to be a part of a mechanism like NRC (National Register of Citizens). Whereas on 25 February 2020, a resolution was unanimously passed in the Bihar Assembly that there is no need for NRC in the state.

The claim by the state minister that not even a single genuine voter's name will be deleted does not match the government's own attitude. If today citizens are being asked to prove that they are Indians, then the question arises whether the governments formed in Bihar since 2005 till now were elected with the votes of 'wrong voters'? This statement is a mockery of democracy.

Comrade Kunal also termed the Bihar government's data on migrant labourers as seriously misleading. The government has stated this number to be only 26 lakh, whereas according to the data of the Central Government's Ministry of Labour, this number is more than 2.9 crore. In such a situation, if a large number of migrant labourers, Dalits, minorities and poor sections do not have documents, then how will they be able to save their names in the voter list? CPI-ML has made it clear that any conspiracy to deprive the poor, minorities, Dalits and migrant sections of their right to vote through the SIR process will not be allowed to succeed.

1. The process of removing the names of people of the Madari community should be stopped immediately.

2. Action should be taken against the objectionable and communal remarks made by the ERO.

3. The SIR process should be made democratic, transparent and non-discriminatory.

Kunal said that CPI-ML will continue the fight to protect people's rights and save democracy in Bihar along with people's organizations.