A chair with a QR code pasted on it was placed on the raised platform at Park Circus Maidan, where a demonstration against the contentious SIR entered its sixth day on Monday.

Scanning the code provides access to a draft email addressed to chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and other senior officials of the Election Commission.

The first line of the email reads: “We, the common citizens of the state, are feeling a deep sense of vulnerability regarding the ongoing process of SIR 2026 under your leadership in West Bengal.”

The Vote Adhikar Raksha Mancha, the citizens’ forum organising the demonstration at Park Circus Maidan, wants to turn the letter into a mass email campaign.

“The email is a reminder of the unfairness, anxiety and harassment citizens experienced and a call for transparency and accountability in the process,” said Nousheen Baba Khan, a member of the forum.

The campaign was launched after iftar on Monday evening. Till 8pm, at least 50 people had scanned the code and sent the email, organisers said.

“Each email is important. We urge more and more people to come forward and scan the code,” said Faridul Islam, another member of the forum.

The letter further reads: “To the best of our knowledge and belief, it is the constitutional duty of the Election Commission to ensure and safeguard the voting rights of every citizen. We feel that this duty is not being adequately fulfilled in the current scenario.”

It also places 10 demands before the poll panel to ensure “transparency, justice and universal franchise”.

The first demand is that names should not be removed from the electoral rolls on the basis of minor or technical discrepancies. The second says all legitimate government identity cards “historically accepted for identity verification” must be recognised.

The chair bearing the QR code also had a piece of paper declaring its name — “Resistance Chair”.

“Too often, those who sit on bureaucratic chairs forget fairness, transparency and accountability. The resistance chair stands for the opposite — it reminds us of our duty, our rights, our conscience and the persistence of democratic resistance,” Khan said.

Park Circus Maidan had earlier been the venue of a long-running vigil against the Narendra Modi government’s CAA-NRC combine. Muslim women had been at the forefront of the spontaneous protests that drew thousands from across the state and beyond.

The ongoing demonstration has so far seen a much smaller turnout. But the spirit of inclusiveness was visible.

Scores of people sat together on the ground for iftar on Monday. It was a simple meal of fruits, puffed rice, fritters and sherbet. Many of those eating were non-Muslims.

Nisha Biswas, a rights activist who joined the gathering, said a mass movement was needed. “Mass movement against the SIR is the only way forward. The rulers of this country have voters they want and voters they don’t. The SIR is a bid to disenfranchise the second lot,” she said.