The Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive to clean up the voters’ list ahead of next year’s Assembly polls in West Bengal has reportedly cast a spell of fear across the state, which is alleged to have claimed 14 lives so far, including eight deaths by suicide.
This surge in casualties, a dangerous and unprecedented trend for the state, has been reported entirely from the districts, highlighting a lack of awareness and confidence among rural voters about such a massive three-month-long drive.
The deceased individuals were identified as Pradip Kar (57) and Kakoli Sarkar (32) of North 24 Parganas; Khitish Majumdar (95) of West Midnapore; Hasina Begum (60) and Bithi Das (49) of Hooghly; Zahir Mal (30) of Howrah; Bimal Santra (57) of Burdwan East; Sheikh Sirajuddin (70) of East Midnapore; Sahabuddin Paik (45) and Safiul Ghazi (35) of South 24 Parganas; Tarak Saha (52) and Mohul Sheikh (45) of Murshidabad; Biman Pramanik (37) of Birbhum; and Laluram Barman (80) of Jalpaiguri.
According to their family members, Kar, Sarkar, Majumdar, Das, Mal, Ghazi, Saha, and Sheikh ended their lives either by hanging or consuming poison in panic, while the others suffered fatal heart attacks due to extreme anxiety. Meanwhile, there were also additional incidents of attempted suicide: at Dinhata in Cooch Behar, a farmer named Khairul Sheikh (63) tried to kill himself by consuming pesticide and was admitted to a hospital; and at Khardaha in North 24 Parganas, a youth, Akbar Ali, took poison but was rescued by his wife immediately.
The rally of deaths reportedly began the day after the EC’s announcement of the exercise on October 27. Those who died were said to be worried about their future after failing to find their names in the last SIR voters’ list (the 2002 list) or trace their identity proof, both of which are required to apply for the current one within a month, according to family members.
They also feared losing their citizenship and facing deportation in light of the SIR being linked to the citizenship issue by the two main political rivals. The Trinamul Congress (TMC) and the BJP have already turned the drive into a key agenda of their electoral battle.
TMC supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and her MP nephew Abhishek Banerjee, have called the SIR a "backdoor" to the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Nandigram Bharatiya Janata Party MLA and Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari predicted the deletion of one crore voters’ names in the exercise, claiming it is necessary to remove 'infiltrators'.
Interestingly, the state last saw an SIR of the voters’ list in 2002, when the CPI(M)-led Left Front was in power. At that time, the scrutiny of the voters’ list was not a poll issue for either the ruling or the Opposition parties, and the duration of the exercise was longer than the current one.
Also read: TMC to hold rally in Kolkata on Nov 4 against SIR drive
Follow us
