Questions have been raised and tension has flared in West Bengal after at least 30 members belonging to the Muslim community were summoned for citizenship verification during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Darjeeling.
This was followed by a complaint filed by a man, Sunil Chhetri, who, as per the reports, alleged that these people were not Indian citizens and extended a demand to delete their names from the voter lists. Following this, a hearing was conducted on Sunday, earlier this week, which also marked the final day after the SIR deadline extension. Meantime, the final voter list is scheduled to be published on 28 February.
The emotions that followed
The incident unfolded an emotional scene as the families who were summoned said they were born and brought up in Darjeeling; they further claimed that they had voted in the previous elections as well.
“I was born here. My father and grandfather lived here. My name has been on the voter list since 2002. Suddenly, I am being asked to prove that I am an Indian citizen,” a resident said while speaking to reporters.
As per the reports of Clarion Media, the man who has been following the matter closely and has been identified as Tausheeq Ashraf said that “Because of that complaint, around 30 Muslim residents were called for SIR hearings.”
Ashraf said that all those summoned submitted valid documents and informed the officials that they were Indian citizens who were born and brought up in Darjeeling.
“The administration disclosed only the complainant’s name but not his address. Without full details, it becomes difficult to take any action or seek accountability,” he said.
Officials associated with the SIR process maintained that summoning individuals based on complaints is part of normal procedure.
“If any objection is filed, we are bound to call the concerned person for verification. “This applies to all communities,” an official said.
“Where documents are correct, there is no deletion. Only in cases where proper documents are not produced are names removed,” the official added.
“My parents have lived here for decades. They pay taxes. They vote. Now they are being treated like outsiders. “This hurts,” another man said.
“We respect the law, and we cooperated fully,” one resident said. “But why are we repeatedly asked to prove that we belong here?”
What do officials have to say?
The officials who are linked with the SIR process said that calling people based on complaints is a part of the normal process in the verification. They said that the process is not limited to one community and that concerns have been raised against people belonging to other backgrounds as well. They further alleged that names of only those who have been deleted who were not able to produce proper documents do not target a particular community.
