I’m trying to stay away from commenting too much about India’s internal affairs. But this is too important not to mention.
From The Guardian:
Millions of people in the Indian state of West Bengal have been stripped of their vote ahead of a critical state election this week, after a controversial electoral revision described by critics as a “bloodless political genocide” and mass disenfranchisement of minorities.
In West Bengal, a total of 9.1 million names have been deleted from the register, more than 10% of the electorate. While many were dead or duplicates, about 2.7 million people have challenged their expulsions, but still been removed.
The process of revising the electoral roll, known as Special Intensive Revision (SIR), has been taking place in states and territories across India, justified by the Narendra Modi government as a way to stop “infiltrators” – a pejorative term largely referring to illegal Muslim Bangladeshi immigrants – from voting.
The divisive exercise by the central Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) government to “purify” the electoral roll – in the words of home minister Amit Shah – has led to a chorus of fury.
And:
SY Quraishi, the former election commissioner of India, was among those who raised concerns over the justification and the processes of SIR, both in West Bengal and other states, and said it raised serious questions over the election commission’s role.
“I feel very awkward and hesitant about commenting on my successor, but as a citizen, I see what is happening and I must speak out,” he said. “The SIR is completely unnecessary, it is designed to harass. Administratively it is a disaster and the intentions are not noble.
He added: “It took us 30 years to achieve 99% accuracy in the rolls. They expect to exceed this in three months. Why this frantic rush if the main objective is accuracy?”
For the “largest democracy in the world” to be removing voters from electoral rolls in such a rushed manner is a transparent attempt to shape political outcomes. One must note the BJP has never been able to achieve a foothold in West Bengal.
There has been a lot of criticism on BP about Pakistan’s lack of democratic credentials. Much of this criticism is justified. It is a fact that Pakistan has had three military coups in its history while India has largely remained an uninterrupted democracy–with the exception of the Emergency. However, this “Special Intensive Revision” indicates democratic backsliding.
When in Bengal, do as the Bengalis do (read CPI / CPM and then Mamata).
I think the issue is deleting people from the electoral rolls without effective recourse. Not allowing citizens to vote is not something that should be done in a country that takes pride in being the “world’s largest democracy”.
For the record, I have a soft spot for Bengalis. Almost all my Hindustani music teachers have been Bengali.
Issue is more complex than what has been reported.
This excercice is happening all over india.
It is looking sharp in bengal as the state government has let Lakhs of Bangladeshi infiltrators in. The exercise is being conducted under supreme court supervision.
Only some Bengalis are making a big noise and the ‘ecosystem ‘amplifies it.
There was no adjucation category in any other state based on ‘logical discrepancy’ most of which are result of government negligence.
+1
It’s important to see what this exercise for what it is.
This was done in Tamilnadu and in keralam. Lakhs of dead voters, duplicate names etc were deleted. No body protested. Both states are being ruled by opposition.
TMC was playing dirty in bengal.
Massive voting in Tamil nadu. Points to change of government.
WB by virtue of its porous border has the highest number of illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators. The state govt turns a blind eye because these illegals acquire aadhar cards etc and continue voting for Mamata. This practice over decades has also effectively changed the religious demography of the state.
Sorry, the second partition of Bengal not happening under the BJP’s watch.
The central government is responsible for maintaining border security. It has powers thst it can use to take the land it may require.
Furthermore there have been lesser deportations under the BJP governments.
Also Murshidabad, Malda and north dinjapur have had large number of muslims since partition and their poverty is one reason why they have grown so much.
I kindly want to remind you that being under adjucation does not mean you are not a citizen.
tmc govt has not given land for fencing the border. Please Check.
It will be surprising that infiltration does not happen Gujarat, Punjab. And else where. Bengal is a special case.
TMC has given land for fencing, on which fencing has not started.
Furthermore, there are other concerns of the juridiction of the BSF being extended beyond the pre decided limit without consultation of the state government.
Unfenced Borders: Why prioritize jurisdiction over infrastructure? | India Sentinels – India Defence News and Updates
That too without having the capacity to police the extra jurisdiction taken.
The linked article mentions that an AI algorithm is being used to flag “logical discrepancies”. This has led to even Nobel laureate Amartya Sen having to prove his citizenship.
Is Amartya Sen a “Bangladeshi infiltrator”?
“It is looking sharp in bengal as the state government has let Lakhs of Bangladeshi infiltrators”
Sounds like US ICE operations to get rid of “illegals” who might vote for the “wrong party”
Very suspicious if most of the infiltrators are muslims
Oh God! The stories coming out of bengal are hilarious and alarming at the same time. Father being younger than son!,
same set of parents for 200 children!!,
Some voters age as 120years etc.
If someone was removed from the list, all they had to do was present ONE of the 12 CERTTIFICATES, like birth, matriculation, property records, tax paid etc etc and get included. Many an infiltrator could not do this.
Interestingly, SIR (special intensive revision) is to take place next in karnataka. Political parties are conducting camps for their workers to help in the process of SIR. No drama!!
Big cities like Bangaluru, Chennai, Mumbai etc used to have voting percentages in low 50s. All because of dead voters, duplication etc. Today Chennai has more than 83% voting.
Bengali’s perchance for drama is very high indeed, they even beat Tamils this time.!!!
//If someone was removed from the list, all they had to do was present ONE of the 12 CERTTIFICATES, like birth, matriculation, property records, tax paid etc etc and get included. Many an infiltrator could not do this.//
Have the 26 lakh people been given enough time to do this? Should such an exercise not have started a year before this?
96 lakhs were removed in Tamil nadu.
Not a squik.
Just because Muslims are involved lots of concern. The hard fact is that infiltrator Hindus have been affected the most as they don’t have a support system to get forged documents.
73 lakh from Tamil Nadu, and when you create a special adjucation category and most of the people excluded in it are muslims, then obviously we need to wonder what is going on.
Hope you are in India.
Every step of any thing is contested by bengal govt in the courts and given way under their directions.
“Very suspicious if most of the infiltrators are muslims” Bangladesh is the neighboring Islamic Country with ~90% of muslim population. What do you expect the distribution of infiltrators to be? Hindus and other minorities like buddhists, christians and tribals can apply for accelerated citizenship if they entered India before 2014 on account of religious persecution. Bangladeshi Muslims can’t claim religious persecution. Any Muslims who continued living in West Bengal after 1947 should records listed in revenue, education etc.
Presumably the poorest of the poor in the GS don’t always have adequate records ..
Again, registration of births is mandatory after 87 or so. Even if you don’t have records yourself, government will have records. If parents on the electoral rolls in 2003 and your birth has been registered then you are good to go.
As of now at 5pm 90% people have voted for phase 1 of bengal polls.
Change is in the air.
TMC the ruling party is known to have massaged the voters list. It has been ruling for 15 years. Everybody knows what is going on.
That’s why except for TMC, others like congress, communists did not protest.
Is BJP better at local governance?
The Tories run very good local councils in the UK.
Sadly in bengal, all industries were stripped by the left. TMC has not helped.
People need relief.
If BJP can give a semblance of order, things will change.
Sadly in bengal, all industries were stripped by the left. TMC has not helped.
Isnt Kerala a state run by a Communist govt one of the most successful states (GDP, HDI etc) in Indiia
Bengal had a 32 years of uninterrupted left rule. In keralam it generally alternates every election. Keralam thrives on remitences,smaller state, less population.
But no jobs for the locals. Ironically there are jobs for the migrants from bengal and bihar!!!
Keralam thrives on remitences,smaller state, less population
Kerala population is 35 million.
Sri Lanka population is 23million
Like Kerala SL have been mostly socialist Govts. Like Kerala SL is dependent on Remittances and Tourism.
We just hit USD 5,003/per capita GDP.
Ironically there are jobs for the migrants from bengal and bihar!!!
If SL allowed Indians in general to work in Sri Lanka, no jobs for locals. Poverty stricken Indians work for less, harder and longer hours than the average Sri Lankan
No different from migrant (illegal) workers in the US. US citizens want better pay for the same job..
You can look at odisha for recent examples and madhya pradesh that has been ruled for close to 20 years for seeing how good they are
Look beyond the govt press release to know how good they are.
It is a process that has to be done to keep the electoral rolls fresh. You know lot of people die too. Voters don’t live forever. And India is a big country where lot of people die every day. Much ado about nothing, as everyone wants to read conspiracies.
Don’t kid yourself.
If that was the case why are Muslims disproportionately affected?
This is electoral engineering in order to generate a particular outcome.
because the disproportionate number of illegal migrants are from neighboring Islamic Bangladesh. IIRC Bangla muslims got their own country in 47 and again 71. India has every right to ensure only legal citizens are able to vote.
Being removed from a vote roll as per the EC itself is not proof of being illegal immigrants.
Going by history any time statewide searches for illegal immigrants were done( Bihar SIR or Assams NRC) the potential (not confirmed) number was much less than what social media would have you belive.
Neither is the presence of their name in the electoral rolls is the proof of them being Indian citizen & voting is for Indian citizens of an Indian state.
You do know that the govt itself has not given out and set criteria for citizenship correct?
This is probably the only example a anywhere where citizens have to prove citizenship without even knowing how!!
+1
Keep fighting the good fight against this blatant electoral manipulation.
This ToI article has the steps on how to prove eligibility. Please note that burden of proof is higher on new people trying to register and who were not part of the roll in 2003. Proof of birth is the primary requirement. Registration of births is a must after 86 or 87 I believe and there are multiple ways to prove it. Both in Bihar and WB the process was litigated multiple times and no shortcomings were found. Even Owaisi has dismissed these claims before the Bihar election. This is global migration ngo complex initiative to defame election integrity.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/ec-drive-citizenship-birth-proof-mandatory-for-voters/amp_articleshow/122053851.cms
The home ministry is on record saying it does not have criteria for citizenship.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thehindu.com/news/national/in-the-lok-sabha-centre-does-not-specify-the-documents-to-prove-citizenship-in-india/article69924143.ece/amp/
This is made all the more strange when so much of our citizenship depends on being the children of citizens and there is no document thst says that our parents are citizens!!
Owasi is not an arbiter of truth and besides without the opposition going to the supreme court and arguing against removing aadhar, the results in bengsl would have been a lot worse especially since many people in bihar have parents who themselves lacked proper documentation.
The Hindu link you posted talks about births not being registered in Bihar for 2 years in 97 and 98.
If your parents were on the electoral rolls before 2003 then that is considered as proof of citizenship of parents. The hilarious examples that brown mentioned are due to people trying to use this loophole.
given the scale of exercise, why are there no aggrieved people approaching the courts for having incorrectly lost their voting rights. All the litigation has been about procedural issues.
Usually procedural issues are the best way to fight a case..
You strike a law on its technicalities if you want to win.
Yeah procedural issues with no actual aggrieved parties is why the law fare is not reaching anywhere. Without standing SCOTUS would not have entertained a single petition for even 5 minutes.
law fare?
The opposition has been filling 100s of law suits in SC about the voter revision since the Bihar elections.
Comment deleted.
You are new here so I’m warning you that I take great offense to the word “Islamist”.
An Islamist is someone who advocates for a state run on Shariah. I have never done this. This is a slur.
Maybe subject of another conversation, but could the word “Islamist” also be applied to muslim identitarianism? One can advocate for islamic symbolic and cultural supremacy without sharia. This would be the analog of hindutva, which was pioneered by atheists , don’t advocate for theocracy, but are essentially fighting a culture war.
I’m opening to having that intellectual conversation.
But the way people on this blog use “Islamist” has no meaning. It is basically just a slur and a go-to attack against any Muslim one doesn’t like.
This is true.
Islamist is also a misnomer; it was invented in a 9-11 context
RNJ: STOP commenting on my threads. Don’t waste either your own or my time.
Any comments from you will be summarily deleted.
It is very rude to keep butting in into a space where you have been repeatedly told you are not wanted.
Probably Muslimist is a good word for that.
Per capita GDP hits all-time high of $ 5,003 in 2025
For those Sri Lanka haters waiting for SL to collapse
According to Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) data, the increase follows a steady rebound over the past three years, with per capita income rising from $ 3,464 in 2022 to $ 3,818 in 2023 and $ 4,546 in 2024, before crossing the $ 5,000 mark in 2025.
The next milestone will be USD 7,000/gdp per capita (Thailand USD 8,000/per capita
https://www.ft.lk/front-page/Per-capita-GDP-hits-all-time-high-of-5-003-in-2025/44-791010
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