The Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) has expressed its ‘shock’ at the lodging of an FIR against veteran journalist Ajit Anjum in Begusarai. The FIR lodged in the name of a block official is, says a statement issued by the union, “a crude attempt at curbing coverage of the Election Commission’s arbitrary handling of an intensive survey and revision of the electoral rolls of Bihar.” Signatories to the DUJ statement include Sujata Madhok, president, SK Pande, vice president and AM Jigeesh, general secretary.
Anjum’s recent YouTube series since Sunday, July 13, containing detailed ground reports from the interiors of Bihar suggested that in some blocks electoral forms were being accepted without photographs and documents or that forms in duplicate were not being supplies by the ECI to voters.
The ongoing ‘special revision’ of the electoral roll has come in for widespread criticism because of the ECI’s self-assumed “demand” that people prove their right to vote and, by implication, their right to citizenship by providing documents which the majority do not possess. The short timeline given for the entire exercise –given that the state assembly elections are due in a few months–is bound to lead to administrative irregularities, something that both journalists like Anjum and some newspapers have exposed through their reportage.
The DUJ statement says that “the fact is that the Bihar government has not cared to issue birth certificates to most of its citizens, few people have caste certificates or domicile documents, the majority do not own property or have documents to prove ownership of land, many are denied schooling and migration is the major survival strategy.” In these circumstances people anxious to stay on the electoral roll are providing whatever they possess. The Election Commission initially refused to accept the basic documents that the majority do have: Aadhar cards and voter identity cards. It was only after the Supreme Court hearing last week on July 10, that the ECI was compelled to now accept the Aadhar card, or EPIC card or Ration Card. Receipts are not always being provided. The haste of the exercise means that many voters in all likelihood, be denied voting rights.
The DUJ statement asserts that it is evident that (ECI) officials were rattled by the reports of irregularities in the entire process and have, therefore resorted to the FIR against Anjum to deter other journalists from similar coverage. The statement ends by stating that the DUJ “salutes” Ajit Anjum for his bold reporting and demands that the FIR for criminal trespass, obstructing a public servant on duty and other grounds be immediately withdrawn and journalists be permitted to report freely from the state.
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