Delhi taxi driver Abu Sayed Sekh has “spent tens of thousands of rupees” travelling to his native Cooch Behar multiple times to ensure his name isn’t struck off Bengal’s voter list.
He is set to leave for Bengal again — to vote. And it isn’t just civic duty that is motivating him.
“I’m going there to vote so that my name isn’t removed from the voter list,” Sekh, a man in his late 40s, said.
One’s name cannot be deleted from the rolls for not voting. But the panic induced by the Bengal SIR is such that hundreds of Bengali migrant workers in Delhi believe
this fallacy.
Some 60 to 70 per cent of the adults from Jai Hind Camp — a colony of 5,000 mostly Muslim Bengali migrants from Cooch Behar — are therefore headed home to vote despite the economic cost and the toilet-less discomfort of a general train compartment or bus. The 1,500km journey takes 30 to 36 hours.
“I’ve travelled to Bengal four times in the last few months. Each round trip costs me ₹10,000,” Sekh, a Jai Hind Camp resident, said.
Train fares are cheaper but confirmed tickets aren’t easy to obtain at short notice.
Sekh said the buses are demanding ₹5,000 per trip against the official ₹3,000 shown on booking platforms.
To understand the panic among the migrants about having their names deleted from the Bengal rolls, one needs to only look at what they have had to endure the past one year.
Many Bengali workers — mostly the Muslims — have been detained and allegedly tortured by police in Delhi and other BJP-ruled states on the false charge of being Bangladeshi or Rohingya “infiltrators”.
At Jai Hind Camp, electricity has remained cut off since July last year on a court’s orders on the grounds of encroachment — the ordeal coinciding with a “special drive” by the Delhi police against Bengali-speaking “ghuspaithiyas”.
As for water, the residents have to buy or carry it from a distance and ration its use. They complain their life has become “worse than hell”.
Sekh, whose Dinhata Assembly seat votes on April 23, has like many other migrants been living at Jai Hind camp for more than 30 years.
The Camp is just a few metres from the polished and gated colonies of Vasant Kunj, throwing into sharp relief the difference between the posh and “cluster” areas.
People at the Camp — a densely packed informal settlement with narrow lanes lined by small, closely built houses made of brick, tin sheets and other makeshift materials — complained that several residents had been removed from the Bengal rolls.
Milan Shaikh, 32, who has a shop in the Camp and is a voter from Sitalkuchi Assembly seat in Cooch Behar, is travelling home by bus with his wife.
“My name has now been enrolled in the voter list. I’m going to vote so that my name doesn’t get removed,” he said, echoing the widespread misconception about possible abstention-induced deletions.
“It will be beneficial for our children, too, making it easier to get their names on the rolls in future without any hassles.”
Most of the migrants betray a soft corner for Trinamool, which had taken a stand for the colony residents’ rights and staged demonstrations in Delhi. Bengal’s ruling party is seen as a champion of minority rights.
At Jai Hind Camp on Saturday, many were discussing one another’s programmes, voting preferences and modes of travel, as well as the colony’s current problems.
Some of them had collectively reserved a bus and left for Cooch Behar.
But some are staying back. The lack of proper washroom facilities makes such long journeys difficult for many people, particularly women and the elderly. Getting a reserved train ticket is an
uphill task.
“I’m not going; I can’t travel by bus,” Saina Biwi, 47, said.
Assebuddin has been luckier — he has managed to get a confirmed train ticket. “I struggled for the past 10 days to get one. Now I can go home and vote.”
Some are already in Bengal. Teenaged Bapi Roy said his parents had been in their native village since March 29 and would return after voting.
Sapna Mitra, 42, who works as a domestic help in Chittaranjan Park and lives in Dakshin Puri, will leave
by train on April 28 for her home in Howrah with her husband Tarak.
“If I don’t vote, my name may be removed from the voter list,” Sapna said.
Saumen Sarkar, a tea vendor at Chittaranjan Park market and resident of Govindpuri for the past four-five years, said he would leave for his South 24-Parganas village with his wife and son on or around April 22, travelling in a general compartment. He will vote on April 29.
“My shop will stay closed for a few days, which will affect my earnings. But voting is important, too,” Sarkar said.