SIR used to target minorities, says TMC lawmaker after BDO office vandalised

KOLKATA: The office of the the Farakka Block Development Officer (BDO) in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district was vandalised, allegedly by a group of Trinamool Congress (TMC) activists, who disrupted hearings being conducted on the premises in connection with the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), people aware of the developments said.

TMC legislator from Farakka Monirul Islam later told party workers outside the BDO office that the exercise was being used to target minorities.

“We will not accept the SIR. It is being used to target a particular community. This is a double standard by the Election Commission. The people of a particular community are being asked to produce multiple documents to prove their citizenship. I am ready to face the bullet while protecting the people of Farakka,” Islam told a gathering of TMC workers in the BDO office.

Islam, who is accused of leading the attackers, claimed that the people who ransacked the BDO office were common people and not TMC workers.

“Have you seen any TMC flags? These are all common people. Who is the EC to question whether a man has six or more children? We are ready to die but we will not show any documents,” he said.

Police have registered a case following a complaint lodged byBDO. HT has reviewed a copy of the FIR which does not name Islam and only refers to “unidentified persons”.

“We have received a complaint from the BDO. Investigation has started. Two persons have been held for questioning,” said a senior police officer of Jangipur police district.

Two people were later arrested.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who has been a sharp critic of the exercise, has already sent five letters to the Election Commission of India (ECI) listing her multiple concerns over the ongoing revision and the hearing process alleging that the voters were being harassed.

There have also been protests elsewhere in the state against the SIR exercise.

In East Burdwan district’s Ketugram, scores of people blocked the state highway alleging that people were being harassed for minor errors. “Voters are being called for a hearing and harassed for minor errors in the enumeration forms, including spelling mistakes. A man who had ‘Sheikh’ in his name in 2002 and wrote ‘Sk’ in the form was called for a hearing. Even elderly people are not being spared,” a protester told local media persons.

Police and the local BDO rushed to the site to hear the protestors’ grievances. “There have been some grievances over the logical discrepancies. We have come to speak to the people. We will make a note and send them to the poll panel,” the local BDO said.

In East Burdwan’s Mangalkot and Murshidabad’s Farakka, some BLOs have threatened to step away from the exercise due to what they described as excessive workload.

“The workload of the SIR has been increasing every day. Every day, new orders are being issued. We can’t take it any longer and will resign,” Mir Nazir Ali, a BLO in Farakka, told reporters.

The BJP has demanded strict action against Islam, saying he was seen leading the attack on the BDO’s office in a widely-circulated video.

“Islam should be immediately arrested along with the persons who could be seen carrying out the attack in Farakka. The persons should be identified from the CCTV footage and other video clips. If the poll panel doesn’t take strict actions, the attackers would get encouraged,” said Rahul Sinha, senior BJP leader.