TMC flags ‘fear psychosis’ as struck-off voters face uncertainty across Bengal

Kolkata: “This is the fear psychosis created by the BJP’s monstrous SIR exercise,” wrote the Trinamool Congress as several people, valid voters whose names have been struck off the electoral rolls, appealed to the President for euthanasia. Six residents of Arambag in Hooghly district on Monday submitted such a plea, amid multiple reports of harassment during the tribunal appeal process.

“These are not criminals. These are bona fide citizens of this country, reduced to such utter humiliation and despair,” the TMC stated, as thousands were reported to be standing in long queues to file appeals. In one such instance, outside a government office in Howrah, Saheb Alam, a former jute mill worker, said, “I’ve submitted all the necessary documents, including my pension book. The BLO said everything is fine and no further document is needed-still my name is deleted. I want to go to any extent to protest against this.”

In another serpentine queue outside the SDO office in Katwa, East Burdwan, Ratna Gharami said: “My husband’s name is in the voters’ list. I have submitted all valid documents, but my name has been deleted. I do not know if I will be able to vote this time.”

Standing in a long queue outside the Joka tribunal office, an elderly man clutched his documents and waited anxiously for his turn, unsure if they would be enough to prove his citizenship. He said the BLO had called his son and asked him to visit the tribunal. Visibly shaken, he added: “No one understands the anxiety,” capturing the distress of suddenly having to justify his identity despite possessing citizenship papers dating back to 1959.

On Monday, six residents of Arambag submitted a plea for euthanasia addressed to the President of India, claiming they were living under the terror of being sent to a “detention camp” after their names were struck off the voter list.

The six, all residents of Ward Number 6 under the Arambag municipality, arrived at the Subdivisional Officer’s (SDO) office in the afternoon with photocopies of all their identity documents pasted across their bodies.

They claimed they were “sons of the soil” and lifelong residents of the country, but the removal of their names had left them fearing loss of identity, shelter and citizenship rights.