Around 1,000 people blocked the tracks at the Burdwan railway station on Saturday to protest against alleged harassment by the Election Commission through repeated notices for hearings linked to the special intensive revision (SIR) of the voter list.
The protest disrupted train services for nearly half an hour, inconveniencing hundreds of commuters. Several local and long-distance trains were stranded at various stations because of the agitation.
Nearly 1,000 people — many of them carrying national flags — entered the Burdwan railway station and squatted on the tracks, bringing train movement to a halt.
GRO and RPF personnel attempted to persuade the protestors to clear the tracks, but the demonstrators remained firm. The agitators said they had been repeatedly summoned for hearings despite complying with official requirements.
“We have been living here for a long time, yet we are being served notices as if we are Bangladeshi migrants. We will not accept this any longer,” said one of the protestors, reflecting the anger and anxiety among residents who feel that their citizenship was being questioned.
The protestors alleged that even after appearing before authorities and submitting all documents sought during previous hearings, fresh notices were being issued, which, according to them, amounted to continued harassment.
“It seems the Election Commission is testing our patience. We have submitted all kinds of documents prescribed by the commission when we were first called for hearings over trivial discrepancies in enumeration forms. But it appears those documents were not even examined, and we are being harassed with repeated notices. What crime have we committed? Today we were compelled to block train services to assert our rights as Indians,” said Alauddin Sheikh, one of the protestors.
Many demonstrators claimed they had received notices three to four times. Holding placards critical of the SIR exercise, some protestors even entered the station premises with an e-rickshaw, which was later removed by the police.
The agitation intensified when the protestors lay down on the tracks, forcing a Howrah–Burdwan local train to stop before it could reach the platform. After passengers were evacuated, the train was sent to the car shed to prevent possible damage.
Local Trinamool Congress leader Pappu Ahmed said the agitation was a spontaneous outburst of public resentment.
“Those who demonstrated today were all common people with no political affiliation. They staged the demonstration spontaneously, carrying national flags. When I heard about the agitation, I rushed to the station. I urged them to lift the blockade to avoid harassment of passengers who were travelling or had come to catch trains. But the BJP and the Election Commission, which have now become synonymous, must understand the plight of the people,” he said.
BJP’s FIR
Although the Murshidabad district administration was yet to act on the EC’s order to lodge an FIR against Trinamool’s Farakka MLA Manirul Islam, the BJP’s Jangipur organisational district leadership on Saturday filed a complaint against the legislator.
The BJP alleged that Manirul, as a public representative, obstructed government work and attempted to influence and disrupt the election process.
Responding to the FIR, the MLA said: “If I have to go to jail while fighting for the people, I will go. The BJP and the Election Commission are no longer separate. The commission is now working as the spokesperson for the BJP.”
The Jangipur organisational district president of the BJP, Subal Chandra Ghosh, said obstructing the work of an autonomous organisation and entering a government office and threatening to vandalise or kill was in no way acceptable.
Additional reporting by Alamgir Hossain in Behrampore
