Kolkata: Protests erupted in the Basanti area in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district on Sunday over allegations of harassment during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) hearing process.
The highway was blocked with burning tyres, bringing traffic to a standstill.
Most of the residents in the area where the blockade is taking place are from the minority community. They alleged that they are being selectively targeted with SIR notices. They claimed that despite submitting multiple documents, they are being “harassed” by being summoned for hearings.
Notably, similar protests are also taking place in Baduria, Magrahat and Mangalkot areas in North 24 Parganas and East Burdwan districts, respectively.
Residents questioned why so many people were being issued notices again after submitting all the necessary documents.
A protesting villager said, “The commission is not providing any papers or documents. The Booth Level Officer (BLO) is just telling us, and that’s how we found out. Muslims are being selectively harassed. Some of us have two to four children. Our other brothers and sisters are getting their documents processed, but ours are not. They are asking us to provide proof that we have six children.”
A senior officer of South 24 Parganas district said, “A protest is going on in the Basanti area. The traffic movement has been hit. Talks are on with protesters to persuade them to lift their protest.”
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India has already clarified that secondary school admit cards are not acceptable for the hearing.
The commission will again summon voters who submitted admit cards. The commission has made it clear that other documents must be submitted instead of the admit card.
Among the 12 documents that were made mandatory, excluding the Aadhaar card, was the secondary school certificate.
In West Bengal, the age is mentioned on the secondary school admit card. Those who did not have birth certificates were submitting their secondary school admit cards as age proof.
However, the Election Commission of India has clarified that admit cards are not acceptable; only certificates will be accepted. This is because admit cards are not accepted outside this state. This has caused a major inconvenience to the people, and that’s why a large number of protests occurred against the ECI’s directive.
(IANS)
