None of them knows where to seek redress.
The Supreme Court has mandated appellate tribunals to decide individual cases.
Most of those cast off the voters’ list have only heard about the tribunals, headed by retired judges, but do not know where to apply or if fresh documents would be needed. Till Wednesday evening, no link to apply to the tribunals was available on the websites of the Election Commission or Bengal’s chief electoral officer.
Metro spoke to three Indians who have now ceased to be “voters” in India.
Syed Md Ali Mashhadi
Al Zaidi, 30, lawyer,
Voter in south Calcutta’s Ballygunge Assembly
constituency
I am not concerned about whether I will be able to vote or not, but the feeling of being slighted hurts more.
If questions are raised about whether I am a genuine voter after having voted in so many elections, I find it insulting and ignominious.
Honestly, I do not care much about voting. I feel no political party works for the welfare of people. Having your name on the electoral roll is an identity marker. It is something I have earned by living here for so many years.
I will not apply to the tribunals, as I fear it will be a cumbersome, time-consuming process. One may have to make multiple visits to file an appeal and then appear before the tribunal. The BLO suggested I file Form 6 (to include my name as a first-time voter).
They cannot question my citizenship. I have all the documents. If my name is restored after filing Form 6, well and good. If not, I will think about what to do at that stage.
Hasir Mallick, 61,
author and editor,
Voter in Hooghly’s Uttarpara
I am hurt, frustrated and scared. Our ancestral house is in Jangipara in Serampore, Hooghly. We have a history dating back more than 300 years. I was a voter in Jangipara until I shifted to Konnagar in 2002. Since then, I have voted in Uttarpara.
I was summoned to an SIR hearing in the third week of January, along with my wife and son. All three of us had a similar logical discrepancy: erroneous progeny (parentage) mapping.
My wife and I submitted our Aadhaar, voter and PAN cards, as well as our Madhyamik certificates. My son submitted his passport.
When the revised list was published on February 28, my son’s name was cleared but
my wife and I were placed under adjudication. When I checked the first supplementary list on Tuesday, I found
that my wife had also been cleared, but my name had been deleted.
In total, I found four names deleted from our booth. Three of them are women, and all four are Muslims.
The SIR was billed as an exercise to weed out outsiders. Who is an outsider? I have been removed from the rolls. Does that make me an outsider? I have read about detention camps in Assam. Is such a camp waiting for me? These questions haunt me.
I will appeal to a tribunal. But the mental strain is too much. I am unable to sleep peacefully. Being treated like an outsider in my own home is a dreadful feeling.
Woman from Memari, East Bardhaman, 47, homemaker
(Metro spoke to the woman’s daughter. She requested neither she nor her mother be named)
My mother had been under a lot of stress since the revised roll was published on February 28. Her name was marked “under adjudication”. Her worst fears came true when the first supplementary list was published on Monday night.
I could not download the list at first. An acquaintance sent it to me, and I saw that her name had been deleted.
My father and I are both on the list. My grandparents (mother’s parents) featured in the 2002 electoral rolls.
My mother has been growing increasingly stressed after hearing from villagers that she may be deported. We have tried to reassure her that
nothing like that is going to happen.
A neighbour told me that I can apply against the decision before the subdivisional officer or the district magistrate. Both of them have their offices in Burdwan town (about 30km from Memari).
The list mentioned that the appeal had to be filed within 15 days, but it did not provide any information about where to file it.