Kolkata Woman Dies Before Learning She Qualified as Voter After SIR Adjudication
In a poignant twist of fate, seventy-seven-year-old Mina Jalal of Kolkata never discovered in her lifetime that she had been officially qualified as a voter. A resident of the Chowringhee assembly constituency, Jalal passed away on March 27, just days before the Election Commission (EC) included her name in the final voter list published on April 9.
Family's Struggle with Voter Registration
While Mina Jalal successfully cleared the adjudication process for the Supplementary Integrated Roll (SIR), her husband, Jalaluddin Ahmed Siddique, and son, Imran Zaki, did not meet the qualifications. Both have since appealed to the tribunal, seeking resolution. In contrast, three of Jalal's other sons and a daughter have been approved as voters after submitting their enumeration forms.
Imran Zaki, a social entrepreneur and educationist, expressed the family's distress, stating, "She was sick and under mental stress as she knew that she could not vote in the assembly poll, but when her name was cleared by the EC, she was no more - it is an irony of fate. She had voted in all the polls in the past, and this time she was a bit distressed... As she was sick, the Booth Level Officer (BLO) came and collected all the documents."
Allegations of Harassment and Lack of Transparency
The family has raised serious concerns about the EC's handling of their case. Zaki highlighted that despite having their names listed in the 2002 SIR and providing all necessary data and documents, they continue to face what they describe as harassment. "They are not giving any reason why our names were deleted. There should be transparency on the part of the EC. They are playing hide-and-seek with a malafide intent," he asserted.
Emphasizing their long-standing roots in the community, Zaki added, "Our family has been living on Weston Street in Bowbazar for over seven decades, where our grandfather Nazir Ahmed stayed, who was with the British police, and still we are staying in the same building."
Broader Implications for Democratic Rights
Zaki further shared that his 81-year-old father, a businessman and social worker, is deeply anxious about potentially being unable to vote in the upcoming elections. "We belong to this country and are associated with the city from the British era. How can they delete our names? This is mockery of the democratic system. We hope we will be enrolled soon," he concluded, underscoring the family's plea for justice and inclusion in the electoral process.
This case sheds light on the challenges faced by citizens in navigating voter registration systems, particularly under the SIR framework, and calls for greater accountability and clarity from electoral authorities to uphold democratic principles.
