I profusely apologise for the incessant atrocities that are being committed against you all since 2014 by the Modi Regime.

There are thousands and lakhs of Muslim Freedom fighters, who gave their blood and lives to make this Nation, when RSS traitors were colluding with the British.

The sadistic pleasure drawn by few self-proclaimed Hindus, on withdrawal of MBBS Course from Shri. Mata Vaishnavo Devi Institute of Medical Excellence in Jammu, is so disheartening and nauseating that I don’t wish to be associated with this kind of Hindu Community.

My sense of dismay, disheartenment is so profound and intense that I now realise and feel the pain that Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar must have felt while Quitting this hate filled, demonic, human social system.

Followers of Manusmriti are using the very Constitution which promised you all, other minorities and the poor and downtrodden, a dignified, egalitarian position in the India liberated on 15-08-1947.

Neither this is that India, nor are the bulwarks of that Constitution intact.

Lynching Muslims, dehumanising them, reducing them to second citizens, bulldozing their homes and forcefully pushing them into Bangladesh, committing genocide against them like in Godhra, even a Muslim MP is not safe and are deprived of the fundamental human dignity in the Parliament.

Doesn’t matter, that Modi Regime and its cronies are accepting the Gulf Dinars from the Sheikhs, to survive and sustain their business, which in any sovereign state eg. America, would tantamount to, proceeds of crime.

I can never forgive myself for what my sister Bilkis Bano had to go through. A believer in the Rule of Law, a pious, devout Hindu can never accept this and never promote such cowardice. I am stunned to see the Hindus (baring few exceptions), not condemning the Regime which enabled atrocities on Muslims of Godhra.

It’s suffocating, I am literally gasping for breath, as the chain of events run through my mind, as a fast forwarded video, full of blood, cries for help, daggers and machetes slashing human beings, bullets fired on innocent young Muslim Kashmiris, poor truck drivers being thrashed, lynched and killed on hate filled, inhuman and fake Hindutva narrative of Cow smuggling.

I choke and wake up at nights with the cries of little kids, young girls, women being drawn into the crowd by Hindutva zombies; those tears welling down those wrinkled cheeks of mothers and fathers who lost their sons, daughters or some loved ones, a source of support and strength in old age, snatched away, ask me, IS THIS WHAT YOUR RELIGION IS ALL ABOUT?

I have read the Vedas, Upanishads, Geeta, Ramayan, Mahabharata, the texts sacred to Hindus religion. I ask any Hindu to tell me, on the basis of which Verse, are Muslims being lynched, killed and relegated to second class citizenship and made to live in fear?

I also ask my Hindu brothers and sisters, IS THIS ‘YOUR’ HINDU RELIGION AND DOES IT TEACH YOU TO KILL OTHER HUMANS, IRRESPECTIVE OF THEIR RELIGIONS AND RELEGATE THEM TO SECOND CLASS CITIZENSHIP?

What do you ask of your Idols, when you light the lamps every day in your homes, or visit the Temples? That hey lord, please give Hindutva Regime more strength to instil fear amongst Muslims and lower caste Hindus? If that’s the case he seem to be answering their prayers!

This is repulsive and I want to give away any identity that I may knowingly or unknowingly, have with such a Group, Society, Community, Religion.

I fail to understand how can pious, loving and warm Hindu friends and fellow Indians allow 04 lumpen Gujarati thugs, hard-core criminals, recognised internationally, denied Visas, summoned by International Courts, to be our representatives, using the very Constitution which GUARANTEES PROTECTION TO EVERY INDIAN?

Sorry, this is not Hindu Religion by any wild stretch of imagination. This is using Hindu Religion, like Taliban, to kill people, for Power and Control.

The Congress Party has profoundly failed to protect our Muslim brothers. It is being brought down by its on archaic bureaucracy which is not able to give shape to the dreams and vision of Rahul Gandhi. What are they doing behind paying lip service and using SM handles like Journalists and Activists. What worth is their Power? Who will expose and preempt the wicked, demonic Modi Regime? Few Journalists and SM activists, YouTubers are even doing that, at the cost of their lives. What have Congress and Opposition MPs, MLAs done about it since 2014?!

In my five decades of existence, having seen the World, learning about the Civilisations, Religions and experiencing the collective social progress we made together, especially since the Liberalisation, I have never imagined, India would be taken over by such criminals.

Now that we are and that their claim to Power and source of legitimacy is the very Hindutva, derived from Hindu Religion, I have decided to keep distance and my future course shall be carved out soon.

If this is what the HINDU RELIGION can do, as is seen since 2014, I am better off it.

I would also like to ask My dear Hindu Brothers and Sisters – with whom you have shared your homes, Offices, travelled together, played and dreamed together – whether they have become ACCUSTOMED to these atrocities against you all, to the dehumanisation, disenfranchisement and demonization of Muslims?

I hope they answer in Negative. I know many of them are as nauseated and repulsed by the bloody Communal politics of the Sangh Parivar but are mum and frightened for their own selfish reasons.

I am convinced, I owe an unconditional apology to my Muslim Brothers and Sisters. My being a Hindu, a Brahmin at that, makes me a perfect candidate to seek this unconditional apology for the dreadful experience you have had, are having.

I am too weak to do anything about it individually but I hope and wish, my fellow Indians, friends and followers, especially Hindus, Brahmins at that, share letters of support and show Muslims, show the poor, the downtrodden, the backwards class compatriot Brothers and Sisters that we don’t subscribe to what the Modi Regime is doing to them.

Yours faithfully,

Raju Parulekar
(An Ashamed Hindu)

The post Apologies from an ashamed Hindu appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Gadgil, who founded the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Sciences, Bengaluru, had been studying India’s ecology and environment for more than half a century. Gadgil pioneered research on the ecological significance of the Western Ghats. It was for this work that in 2024, the United Nations Environment Programme awarded him their Champions of the Earth award for the year under the ‘Lifetime Achievement’ category. Decades before this, in 1981 he was awarded the Padma Shri in 1981 and Padma Bhushan in 2006.

Fifteen years ago. Madhav Gadgil published one his widely-recognised works was his report submitted to the government as head of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) in 2011. The panel submitted its report after a lot of field visits, interactions with local communities and more. The report categorised the Western Ghats across six states into Eco Sensitive Zones of different gradations: 1 (areas of highest sensitivity), 2 (areas of high sensitivity) and 3 (areas of medium sensitivity). The report also made a lot of recommendations, including no mining or quarrying in areas listed under ESZ1.

Ironically, all states rejected the report; many called it “impractical.” And 14 years later, it has not been implemented in any form yet, across any of the six states home to the Western Ghats in India – even after another panel headed by Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan submitted another, more diluted report that also decreased the area across the Ghats that is to be eco-sensitive.

In his interview with The Hindu last year, he had expressed concerns about the disasters in the Western Ghats, adding that all the recommendations in the report were much needed to avert disasters. “What we witnessed was a model of development being imposed on people: mining operations and polluting industries were forced upon communities without their consent. At the same time, even conservation efforts were imposed in a top-down, authoritarian manner by a forest department that often acted in a tyrannical and anti-people way,” he said.

Apart from this report on the Western Ghats, his areas of work included the sacred groves of the Western Ghats to traditional ecological knowledge and peoples’ participation, India’s ecological issues and conflicts to environmental movements, and more.

Madhav Gadgil had also authored and co-authored numerous books, from This Fissured Land in 1992, to A Walk Up The Hill – Living with People and Nature, in 2023. Gadgil had also expressed strong views on the detrimental development projects coming up in the Great Nicobar Island, in tune with the warnings of scientists, conservationists, activists and several other sections of society. “If India has to act as a law-abiding country, then the Forest Rights Act would very much apply to the Shompens and the Nicobarese. Those areas should remain inviolate. They should be community forest resources of particularly vulnerable tribal groups and they should not be touched. So we are violating these laws all the time,” he had said.

A man of courage and conviction, he always opined that scientists, like all academics from various dispensations should speak truth to power.

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The post Madhav Gadgil’s unshakeable faith in science appeared first on SabrangIndia.

There was a section of political opinion consisting of mainly conservative Hindus and those arguing that India should become a Hindu nation; who opposed the Constitution right from the start. The views of these leaders of Hindu nationalist politics, supported by a conservative section of society were articulated in an article in Organiser, the RSS mouthpiece, which opposed the Indian Constitution; saying that there is/was nothing Indian about it and that it will not be accepted by Hindus. Savarkar, went on to (CNBC TV18) say that Manusmriti is the Constitution today. In this spirit Swami Avimukteshwaranand recently stated (Navbharat Times) that Manusmriti is “above” the Indian Constitution.

This stream is not the only one within India to undermine the Constitution by showing the primacy of ‘word of God’ or sacred scriptures as above its docrine. Maulana Mufti Shamail Nadwi made a similar statement recently. This Maulana has come to prominence in the last few days after his debate with Javed Akhtar on “Does God exist?”. In a viral clip, he asserts that “Muslims erred by accepting secularism and the supremacy of national institutions over Shariah, criticises democracy and the notion of placing the nation (desh) above religion. He questions whether believers should passively accept court verdicts conflicting with Islamic law. These statements (The Chenab Times), while presented as theological opinions, have been interpreted by critics as undermining India’s constitutional secularism and promoting religious supremacy.”[1]

While Manusmriti is a scriptural compilation representing the values of Brahmanism, the dominant stream within Hinduism, Sharia is based on multiple things. Sharia (Arabic: the path) is the Islamic legal-ethical system derived from:

“Qur’an, Hadith (sayings/actions of Prophet Muhammad), Ijma (consensus of scholars) and Qiyas (analogy)” It guides personal conduct and law, not just punishments. In practice, Sharia is interpreted through schools of jurisprudence (Sunni: Hanafi, Shafi‘i, Maliki, Hanbali; Shia: Ja‘fari), so there is a diversity within the legal system of Sharia.

Out of nearly 55 Muslim majority countries it shapes the laws etc. only in Saudi Arabia, Iran and Afghanistan fully. It is partly i implemented in a few other Muslim majority countries. In India it forms a base in matters of Muslim personal laws only.

So, what does one do with changing times and the social patterns, which have occurred over a period of centuries when these laws were devised? Those indulging in politics in the name of religion in India harp on bringing in the Manusmriti and countries like Iran, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia are implementing the Sharia in entirety. In many Muslim countries it is not implemented or implemented only in part.

Can Sharia be above the Constitution as the Mufti claims? The legal luminary Faizan Mustafa in a video https://youtu.be/T8BCr27fA24 argues that in every country the Constitution is supreme. The Constitution does consider Sharia in many countries and integrates some aspects of that in the Constitutions.

So, what is the status of democratic institutions in Muslim majority countries? There are different degrees of ‘democracy’ in these countries.  At the moment many social media accounts have been criticizing Shamail for encouraging Muslims not to follow the Constitution, as an anti-patriotic act. On the other hand, many are praising the Mufti for upholding the Sharia! It is interesting to note that during the medieval period of Indian History, the Muslim Kings did not make the Sharia law obligatory for the state.

While Mufti Shamail has one opinion there are others like Asghar Ali Engineer, the foremost scholar of Islam in India; who have different idea about the role of Sharia viv a vis the Constitution. Dr. Engineer harps on Shura (Mutual consultation); to argue that democracy and related principles are possible in the contemporary World. Dr. Engineer says a Quranic concept – and modern-day representative democracy – merely a human concept – may not be exactly similar. However, “the spirit of modern democracy and the Qur’anic injunction to consult people is the same”.

As per him “New institutions keep on developing and human beings, depending on their worldly experiences, keep on changing and refining these institutions. And in the contemporary world, the concept of Shura should mean democratic process and constitution of proper democratic institutions of which elections are a necessary requirement.” The Qur’anic text not only gives the concept of Shura (democratic consultation) but “does not support even remotely any concept of dictatorship or authoritarianism”.

During India’s freedom struggle, which was based on democratic principles and aimed at democratic institutions, a very highly regarded Islamic scholar Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and a dedicated Muslim leader Khan Abdl Gaffar Khan (to name but a few) strove for the values and institutions of democratic secular country. Just a few years ago the Muslim women through the Shaheen Baug movement showed their democratic strength in protecting the community from the fear of disenfranchisement.

What is needed in contemporary times? In India as Muslims are being targeted by Hindutva politics, they have become a besieged community. The conservatism among Muslim community is on a sharp rise. The major issue confronting them is enforcement of their rights using the law and its instruments, asserting representation and accountability from modern institutions.

Even in Islam there are various streams of laws and systems of jurisprudence. Since this is part of Sharia, in that case what Sharia recommends will be another contentious issue. Since Muslims are a minority in this country, they already have Personal laws, which are again under opposition.

Today within the extreme Hindu right wing there is a dominant retrograde tendency trying to bring to fore the values of Manusmriti. Such assertions which want to bring inequality in the garb of religion are not welcome. We need to also look to some European countries where religion is on the back foot.

We are living in contradictory times. On one side human society has developed the principles of dignity and equality as represented in the UN charter and on the other religious right-wing has become stronger during the last few decades. While the Mufti may be knowledgeable in concepts of Islam, we also need to know what are the trends of contemporary society and values of democratic institutions.

[1] This controversial debate has been sharply questioned by political observers, funded as it was by the Maulana himself and his Wahyain Foundation (based in Kolkata) and the Delhi based “Academic Dialogue Forum” reportedly associated with social activist Shabnam Hashmi.

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The post Sharia, Manusmriti or the Indian Constitution appeared first on SabrangIndia.

This exposure, just before the scheduled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections, on January 15, said that immigration officials at Mumbai International Airport have intercepted around 28 non-resident Indians over the past two months for allegedly carrying Indian voter ID cards despite holding foreign citizenship. Following the seizure, immigration officials seized the voter ID cards and informed the Election Commission of India, which has initiated the process to cancel them. Most of those caught are citizens of countries such as Canada, the United States, Nepal, and Australia.

The BMC elections are scheduled to be held on January 15, with results to be declared on January 16. Immigration officials said they have stepped up checks at Mumbai International Airport over the past two months in view of the polls.

A source from the Immigration Department reportedly told mid-day, “Our teams are deployed at Mumbai International Airport to check passports and documents at immigration counters. We have been specifically alert about checking voter ID cards carried by NRIs, as they are not eligible to vote since they are no longer Indian citizens.”

According to officials, as reported by the Mumbai-based city daily, several NRIs allegedly obtained voter ID cards by submitting false information to the Election Commission of India. “Many of them have family members residing in India and visit the country frequently on visa-free or long-term visas. They provided their relatives’ addresses and declared themselves as residents of India to obtain voter ID cards,” the source said.

Officials explained that NRIs are not entitled to voter ID cards, even though they may legally hold Aadhaar and PAN cards. “These individuals were allegedly voting in their countries of citizenship and attempting to vote in India as well, which is a serious violation,” the source said.

Immigration officials said the voter ID cards were detected during routine immigration checks. “Passengers arriving at the airport are screened at immigration counters. When NRIs were questioned, some produced Indian voter ID cards. After verifying their nationality and records, the cards were confiscated and reported,” the official said.

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The post BMC Polls: ECI claims superintendence on citizenship even as Foreigners (NRIS) enter Mumbai airport carrying Indian Voter IDs appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The official who spoke to the media, The Times of India and NDTV said Asha Santosh Kiranga (24), resident of Aaldandi Tola in Etapalli taluka in Gadchiroli district, was nine months pregnant.

“Her native Aaldandi Tola village is cut off from the main road, with no delivery facilities available there. The patient, hoping for timely help, set out on January 1 with her husband, trudging 6 kilometres through jungle paths to her sister’s home in Petha. However, the ordeal in her heavy, advanced stage of pregnancy took a toll on her body,” he said.

“On the morning of January 2, she began experiencing severe labour pains. She was rushed by ambulance to Kali Ammal Hospital in Hedri. Though the doctors decided on a caesarean operation, it was too late by then. The baby had already died in the womb. Due to rising blood pressure, the woman too passed away soon after,” the official said. When the media contacted authorities for information, Gadchiroli District Health Officer Dr Pratap Shinde said the woman had been registered through the ASHA workers.

“The sudden labour pains and complications likely arose due to walking. Doctors tried to save her, but were unsuccessful. A detailed report has been called for from the taluka health officer, and the matter will be investigated,” he said.

(Except for the story were published from a syndicated feed)

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The post Gadchiroli, Maharashtra: Pregnant Woman walks 6 km from village for childbirth, dies appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Satheesan has registered his strong protest at the arrests in Nagpur on allegations of forced religious conversion. The letter states that twelve individuals, including Father Sudhir, a priest of the CSI South Kerala Diocese, Nagpur Mission, and his wife Mrs. Jasmine, were reportedly arrested by the Maharashtra Police following a complaint filed by Bajrang Dal activists. The arrests were made while a Christmas prayer meeting was being conducted in Nagpur at around 8.00 p.m. last night. Subsequently, those who came to the police station to enquire about the incident were also taken into custody, and cases were registered against them.

Father Sudhir, the open letter states is a native of Amaravila in Thiruvananthapuram district, has been serving in Maharashtra for the past five years. The remaining ten individuals arrested are natives of Maharashtra. The letter also states that it is learned that all the arrested persons are currently being detained at the Benoda Police Station and are likely to be produced before the court shortly. Although representatives of the CSI attempted to secure bail at the police station, they were directed to approach the court.

Satheesan states that “this incident is deeply disturbing and raises serious concerns about the violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India, particularly the freedom to profess, practice, and propagate religion. Arresting individuals for conducting a peaceful prayer meeting is unconstitutional and contrary to the spirit of our democratic and secular values.”

“On behalf of the people of Kerala, I express my strong protest against this unjust action. I earnestly request your immediate intervention to ensure the release of all those arrested and to prevent such incidents from recurring in the future.”

Arresting 12 people, including Malayalipriest Fr. Sudhir, during Christmas prayer meeting in #Nagpur based on a BajrangDal complaint is deeply disturbing. I have written to the @PMOIndia & @CMOMaharashtra, protesting this injustice& urging immediate intervention for their release pic.twitter.com/7MPRRgnXTN

— V D Satheesan (@vdsatheesan) December 31, 2025

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The post Congress leader of the opposition Kerala Assembly writes to Modi, Fadnavis over arrest of a Malayali priest in Nagpur appeared first on SabrangIndia.

About the poet

Most poets write what they see, think, and sometimes also what they feel.

On the very first page of Ipsa Shatakshi’s poetry collection are these words:

“Dedicated to companions who walk the path of struggle and become each other’s courage.”

Ipsa writes what she herself is living through, what she is grappling with—there is no distance here between the poet and her persona. Her struggle is the struggle of her life.

When she says,

“ऐसी रोशनी का हम क्या करें

जो रोशन करे सिर्फ़ एक घर को।

हमें तो चाहिए वे दीये,

जो रोशन करें मानवता को।”

“What use is that one light

That illuminates only one house?

We need lamps

That light up (all of) humanity.”

In Ipsa’s poetry, the language is simple, but runs deep. The concerns of the poet are not limited—she writes for all. The style is not framed in sharp or aggressive tones, yet there is an inner intensity that strikes deeply.

She does not merely pray for the well-being of love and then fall silent; she actively strives for its safe keeping. She does not wish to lose herself in the dreams of her beloved; rather, she wants to live those dreams. When she resists, she does so standing upright—fearless, yet with graceful and dignified words.

The truth is that Ipsa’s poetry is not purely personal, nor does it arise only from her own pain. Instead, it speaks for all those oppressed and crushed sections of society whose very act of standing up counts as standing on the side of humanity. This is Ipsa’s love; this is her freedom—one that reveals the beauty of love through the path of poetry.

She sees and understands too:

कि कैसे उनके हिस्से का

चाँद, सूरज, तारे, फूल, ख़ुशबू—

सब कुछ मुट्ठियों में मसला जा रहा है।

और उन्हें भी अब

बंद करनी है अपनी मुट्ठियाँ,

हवा में तान कर

लेना है प्रण

कि अपने संघर्ष से छीन लेना है

अपनी धरती, अपना सूरज,

फूलों का खिलना,

पंछियों की चहचहाहट…

और आज़ाद कर लेना है—

“इश्क़ की सुंदरता”

How what was meant for her—

The moon, the sun, the stars, the flowers, the fragrance—

Are being crushed in closed fists,

And (how) now she too

Must clench her fists

And raise them up in the air,

And take a vow

To reclaim through struggle

Her earth, her sun,

The blooming of flowers,

The chirping of birds…

And free her love.

“The Beauty of Love”

Another reason to embrace this collection is that it is often assumed that women’s poetry lacks struggle, consciousness, or social rebellion—that their world revolves only around themselves.

Ipsa does write of the lived truth, but her truth walks the path of radical change, of revolution.

In October 2025, Sabrangindia published a letter written by Ipsa to her jailed husband, Rupesh Kumar Singh. This may be read here.

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The post Poetry award for Ipsa Shatakshi at the world book fair, January 2026 appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Today, New Year’s Eve, December 31, a delegation of Parliamentarians belonging to the TMC met with Gyanesh Kumar (Chief Election Commissioner-CEC) and submitted a detailed memorandum.

pic.twitter.com/vzmVFG0uo8

— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) December 31, 2025

Yesterday, December 30, 5-member delegation of state political representatives and MLAs met the State Election Commission demanding “immediate release of the “Logical Discrepancy” list, an extension of doorstep hearing timelines for senior citizens, and the inclusion of BLA-2 representatives in SIR hearings, and submitted a memorandum. The memorandum states that “these demands are vital to ensure transparency in voter lists. Ending needless harassment and protecting senior citizens’ rights will strengthen the very foundation of democracy”

Calling for the immediate release of the “Logical Discrepancy” list, an extension of doorstep hearing timelines for senior citizens, and the inclusion of BLA-2 representatives in SIR hearings, a five-member delegation of the All India Trinamool Congress submitted a memorandum to… pic.twitter.com/0FnaEN5BA8

— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) December 30, 2025

Controversy was first generated with the December 27 announcement by the ECI that it was “halting” the previously announced and notified Bengal hearings over 2002 electoral roll glitch! Rediff.com reported that the EC has issued instructions afresh to district election officials in West Bengal, directing that voters marked as “unmapped” in the BLO app due to technical issues linked to the digitisation of the 2002 electoral rolls during the ongoing SIR exercise should not be called for hearings, even if such notices have been auto-generated by the system. This promises to create hardship and confusion on the ground especially to the elderly and differently abled leading to sharp criticisms from the state government and ruling party.

The directive published on the portal and issued by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, on Saturday, December 27, stated that the issue has arisen due to incomplete conversion of the PDF version of the 2002 electoral rolls, the last Special Intensive Revision (SIR) conducted in the state, into CSV format, leading to linkage failures in the booth-level officer (BLO) app for a number of electors.  The announcement stated that despite being marked as “unmapped” in the system, many such electors have valid self or progeny linkage with the hard copy of the 2002 electoral rolls, duly authenticated by district election officers (DEOs) and published on the CEO’s website. Going further, the CEO’s office said that hearing notices generated automatically in such cases need not be served and should be retained at the level of the electoral registration officer (ERO) or assistant electoral registration officer (AERO).

Sabar Institute: Analysis shows many permanently shifted, untraceable voters in Matua-dominated seats

The refugee (immigrant) community of Hindu refugees largely residing in North 24 Parganas and Nadia district have been apprehensive of exclusion in the SIR since they lack the appropriate “legacy data”. The analysis was conducted in about 15 Matua-dominated Assembly constituencies by the Kolkata-based Sabar Institute. It revealed from analysis that, an average 33.95% deleted voters have been described as permanently shifted. The average number of untraceable/ absent voters across these 15 constituencies stands at 21.56%. These 15 constituencies are located in North 24 Parganas and Nadia districts. The highest per cent of deletions on account of untraceable/absent voters is from the Krishnaganj Assembly seat in Nadia with 42.11% deletions. This was followed by Ranaghat Uttar Purba with 34.56% deletions on account of untraceable/ absent voters in the same district. This study has been reported in detail in The Hindu on December 29.

The highest per cent of deletions on account of permanently shifted voters was recorded in Bangaon Dakshin constituency with 41.76% deletions. This was followed by 38.46% deletions in Swarupnagar on account of permanently shifted voters. Both these constituencies are located in North 24 Parganas. ((Providing details to local and national media, institute stated that the collaborative evidence-based analysis of the SIR exercise in West Bengal was done by Ashin Chakraborty and Souptik Halder. “In constituencies such as Krishnaganj, ‘untraceable/absent’ has become the main reason for voter deletion, which is uncommon in most parts of the State. This is a serious issue and needs urgent attention, especially because the Matua community is already socially and economically marginalised,” Mr. Chakraborty said.

The researchers have also held a surname analysis in the Matua belt across these 15 constituencies which point out that people with the surname “Biswas “have accounted for the highest 20.79% deletions. This is followed by persons with Mondal surname with 17.83% deletions and Das surname with 10.78% deletions. All the three surnames are generally used by the Matua population.

Matuas are a social group largely comprising Namashudras who have migrated from Bangladesh over the past several decades. The community of Hindu refugees largely residing in North 24 Parganas and Nadia district have been apprehensive of the SIR since they lack legacy data. The SIR fears have over the past few weeks have prompted the Matuas to apply for citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019.

Local Officials flag systemic errors and consequent large-scale voter deletions

Meanwhile, a West Bengal based Officers association, reported the Hindu, has expressed concern that names may be deleted from voters’ list without the knowledge of the Electoral Registration Officer. In a letter to West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal, with a copy to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s office, the West Bengal Civil Service (Executive) Officers’ Association on Wednesday flagged the “suo moto system-driven deletion of electors from the draft electoral rolls in West Bengal in the ongoing SIR process bypassing the statutory role of EROs”. This anomaly could put the EROs (Electoral Registration Officers) in West Bengal in a piquant situation– an association of state service officers has flagged a serious concern over the potential of widespread, system-driven exclusions/deletions of voters that they (EROs) would be blamed for though they had no part in the generating of notices.

West Bengal based Booth Level Officers have also protested outside the state office of the Election Commission (December 1).

#WATCH | Kolkata, West Bengal: Booth Level Officers (BLOs) engaged in SIR exercise hold a protest outside the office of the Election Commission. pic.twitter.com/47xOqI35FU

— ANI (@ANI) December 1, 2025

Under the law and existing rules, the EROs are the sole and competent authority to issue notices if they have any doubts on a voter’s eligibility, be it citizenship or anything else, under the Representation of People Act, 1950. However, in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the ECI’s centralised portal has been used to generate notices. Meanwhile The Indian Express had also reported on December 16 that EROs across Bihar had found “pre-filled notices” appearing on their individual log-ins on the ECI’s centralised portal. Significantly, while the notices bore the names of the EROs, they had not been generated by them.

An Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) in West Bengal, who did not wish to be named, said notices are generated by the ECI software, and not by the officer concerned. “We have an option/button for notice generation. When we use it, notice is automatically generated. At present, the software generates notices for voters who are not mapped with the 2002 SIR data. Thereafter notices to these voters are sent. However, in the case of voters with ‘logical discrepancies’ in data, we have no power to decide which elector will be called for a hearing. That will be decided only by the ECI,” the ERO in Nadia district said.

In this letter to the CEC, Saikat Asraf Ali, General Secretary of the state civil service officers association said, “It is observed that names of electors might be deleted from the electoral roll without the knowledge of the ERO who is the competent authority as per the statute. The common people who will be affected by such action will only blame the ERO without knowing that the ERO has been kept out of the entire deletion process by the Commission.”

When contacted, Ali told this newspaper that the association wants ECI to follow the law and be transparent. “If they make deletions, and what they have done so far, they should clarify to people that the ERO is not responsible for the deletions. Otherwise, people will blame us. We also don’t want any genuine elector’s name to be deleted,” he said.

An official in the West Bengal CEO office, however, said detailed instructions were given to all DEOs (District Election Officers), EROs and AEROs in October itself before SIR work commenced in West Bengal. “Why are the officers raising such questions now? Only those electors who have no mapping with 2002 SIR are being served notices to come for hearing. That number is around 31 lakhs in West Bengal. After this, ECI will start scrutinising the voters with ‘logical discrepancies.’ Then it will be decided by the ECI how those notices will be generated,” the official told The Indian Express.

“It has been found on the date of the draft publication that a considerable number of electors, whose Enumeration Forms have not been returned on alleged grounds such as death, migration, absence, or duplication, have been deleted from the draft electoral rolls,” the association had said in its communication. “Seen against the existing legal provisions as enumerated in the Representation of the People Act, 1950 read with the Electoral Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, it is observed that the law clearly mandates that an elector’s name can be deleted with care on special grounds such as, when ‘the person concerned has ceased to be ordinarily resident in the constituency or that he is otherwise not entitled to be registered in the electoral roll of that constituency’ and also, in all such cases, ‘the electoral registration officer shall give the person concerned a reasonable opportunity of being heard in respect of the action proposed to be taken in relation to him’ (Section 22 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950). EROs have been assigned an integral role in the entire registration process in this regard,” it said.

ERO: Sole authority for voter deletion

AT the heart of the issues raised by the West Bengal officers’ association is the claim that names of persons may be deleted from voters’ list without the knowledge of the Electoral Registration Officer, who is the competent authority as per law to send notices and decide if a person is a legitimate voter.

West Bengal CEO Agarwal had earlier said in a press conference that the hearings for those who could not be mapped with the electoral roll of the last intensive revision in 2002 would begin first and those with “logical discrepancies” would be studied.

“Some electors fall in multiple categories of discrepancies. So, the unique number of logical discrepancies is 1.36 crore and no mapping numbers stand at 31 lakhs, totalling at 1.67 crore. But after analysis, the numbers could change,” he had said.

The WBCS officer’s letter came on the same day that the Election Commission wrote to the CEOs of the 12 states and UTs where the SIR is ongoing, giving fresh instructions to verify all documents submitted by electors with the respective District Election Officers to establish their eligibility within five days – something which was not done in the SIR in Bihar. The Indian Express sent a detailed query to the ECI, which did not respond till the time of writing.

The WBCS officers’ letter concluded, “In view of the above, we request your good office to issue necessary instructions so that the EROs may function with greater clarity in their works and authority commensurate with their statutory responsibilities, considering the fact that the final electoral rolls will be published under his signature and seal alone and under the aegis of Election Commission of India.”

(Report based on inputs from The Hindu, The Indian Express and Rediff.com)

Related:

SIR: Over 3.5 Crore electors flagged for removal across 12 states in SIR, Uttar Pradesh will publish its draft rolls on December 31

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West Bengal Draft Electoral List: Over 58 lakh names deleted under SIR exercise, urban seats & Hindi speakers see higher voter deletions

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A teacher in a small village may not be exactly in a world-changing position, but who knows that the ideas given by her to her students may one day inspire one of them to contribute something great to peace or justice or protection of environment. So, no matter how small the contributions we can make to create a world based on peace, justice and protection of environment, we must continue to make our best efforts even in the middle of disappointments and obstructions.

There is a famous Hindi song sung by Manna Dey on the theme of the lamp and the storm—nirbal se larai balwan ki, ye kahani hai diye ki or toofan ki (translated as ‘the struggle of the weak against the strong, this is the story of the earthen lamp and the storm). In this song a lonely lamp struggles to keep lighting a dark night as a raging storm attacks to extinguish it, ultimately prevailing.

There are at least two specific ways in which, despite all the disturbing realities and difficulties, hope can still increase for a safer and more just world.

Firstly, in our daily life in immediate surroundings, if more and more people can start making efforts for increasing justice and peace and advancing the cause of protection of the environment, then millions of such small efforts can make a big difference. These can be very small efforts for ensuring that the poorest get justice in everyday life, that domestic violence in neighbouring areas is reduced, that bullying in the local school must stop, that any harassment of girls and women on the streets is opposed, that the proposed felling of trees near our locality can be stopped and instead more trees can be planted if possible.

In a hundred small ways the cause of peace, justice, protection of environment and all forms of life can be advanced in daily life, not the least by making lifestyle changes. However, an even bigger achievement is possible if these efforts are accompanied by educational, campaign and mobilisation efforts to advance the objectives of peace, justice and protection of environment in a wider context. If advancing these precepts in our own life and in the life just around us brings us happiness and satisfaction and helps to improve things, why should not these precepts to taken to wider levels? Why cannot governance of countries, regions and the world be based on these precepts?

Once more and more people start thinking along these lines, the task of most essential changes and reforms in the world is being advanced. Essential to this process is the very creative and involving work of re-imagining the world to be created on the precepts of justice, environment protection and peace. This must be the most exciting challenge, the most involving task ever taken up.

Such highly creative and useful work creates great hope, but this by itself would not be adequate, keeping in view the fact that the world-level threats to peace and environment protection have already acquired the dimensions of disrupting life-nurturing conditions. Therefore, while the efforts of people and their social and ecological movements are very important, it is also very important that persons who have held very senior positions and/or are recognised and respected for their expertise and learning in areas of crucial importance to world should come forward in a bigger or more effective way, on their own or by forming small or big groups, to clearly warn against the ‘business-as-usual’ ways and present various alternative paths for creating a world based on justice, peace and  environment protection and for saving the basic life- nurturing conditions of earth.

These two initiatives, at the grassroots involving most people and at the top level some of the most accomplished persons, should be supportive of each other in various ways and their combined strength and actions can succeed in giving much-needed hope to our deeply troubled and threatened world.

Everyday millions of people –placed in very difficult conditions –take courageous actions to protect themselves and their near and dear ones, sending a clear message that humanity is capable of a much better and protective role, and the potential for channelizing this energy and capability for creating a better and safer world for the people living today and for the generations to come needs to be taken up in much better ways to create hope.

As I am writing this, it is around 5 am in a city of Punjab (India) known for its high levels of pollution, I look out of a high-rise window to see that all nearby areas including a highway are engulfed in fog overlaid with pollution particles. Even the bright lights on the highway are not visible at all. The situation today appears to be much worse than a normal foggy morning. Yet soon enough sun will arise and will seek to bring light and cheer to people. Soon after, we will gather to welcome the New Year, 2026. And so, life will go on. However, it is best to realise that in coming years life will not be the same as before as the basic life-nurturing conditions are being threatened. If more and more of us can be united in checking these threats within a framework of peace, justice, equality, inter-faith harmony and democracy, then we can create a lot of hope. Let’s light a lamp with this hope.

(The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include A Day in 2071, Protecting Earth for Children, Planet in Peril, Earth without Borders, Man over Machine and When the Two Streams Met.)

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Girija was the daughter of a late trade Union leader of Hind Mazdoor Sabha, with decades of experience. She lived in Vile Parle, Mumbai, but due to her terminal illness, high diabetes, weak functioning heart, she moved to her sister, Manisha Gupte’s house in Pune, where she breathed her last. Gupte began her organisational work with the Indian Federation of Trade Unions, in the late 1980’s However by the mid 1990’s she made a departure from those organisations, and joined the ranks of the Workers Consciousness Front. A democratic workers front, the Jagrut Kamgar Manch, formed in 1997, also engaged her participation with its focus on consientising the working peoples and building of solidarities. Through this front she made efforts along with others to organise garment workers, hospital workers, transport workers, workers in the Tata Power Project by also organising solidarity programmes. Girija is also remembered for the role played as an activist of the Airport Employees Union from the 1990’s onwards to wage a struggle against the onset of de-formalisation of work and the “contract labour raj.” Her efforts in the early 200s, after the suicide (s) of Tata Power Projector workers in 2003 have been recalled and remembered. Being an academic by profession, she conducted workshops amongst students and youth as well. She was also a committed woman right’s activist.

A voice not confined to trade union protests alone. Girija Gupte engaged in nationwide campaigns opposing the 1998 Ramabainagar Dalit massacre and the Pokhran missile testing in 1998, the communal violence in Bombay (1992-1993), the post Godhra carnage of 2002, Operation Green hunt thereafter, 2006 Khairlanj Dalit killings, the Kalahandi Adivasi massacre in 2009 and the campaign against the imprisonment of Dr Vinayak Sen in 2010.

(This has been written on the basis of several tributes from associates and friends on social media)

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