Kolkata: The West Bengal Radio Club (WBRC) - the organisation of ham radio operators in Bengal - has written to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar to take measures to include the name of an Indian citizen presently in Bangladesh in the voter list.
The ham radio enthusiasts, who over the years have successfully reunited a large number of Indian citizens with their families across various states, has recently traced Md. Hossain, aged about 50 years, originally hailing from Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh in Bangladesh.
Hossain is presently residing with Bangladesh ham radio associate Md. Abdul Gani Fitu at Manyabik Sahayata Kendra, Golabari Rail Station at Nachole, Nawabganj and is mentally unwell. The written communication to CEC states that Hossain had been missing for more than 25 years from Uttar Pradesh. His father is Kamaluddin, an Urdu teacher at GI Center College and a resident of Naikot in Ghazipur. The local police have verified this information via video call. “We have requested the CEC to consider issuing a special order under the new initiative of the Election Commission, whereby the names of Indian citizens missing from their families are maintained in the Voter List, similar to a government service record. This will help establish their Indian identity when they are found, even after many years or from outside India,” said Ambarish Nag Biswas, secretary of WBRC.
According to Nag Biswas, if individuals like Hossain are not included in the Voter List, it may create legal complications in their repatriation and reintegration into society.
WBRC is a licensed social organization under the Wireless Planning and Coordination (WPC) Wing, Ministry of Communications that has been working for the last 35 years to trace and reunite missing persons with their families.