Kolkata: Nandita Roy, Mohd Shamim Akhtar, and Melisha Khatun—all professors—boast PhD degrees, thanks to the Election Commission of India. However, they have now been given another common title: ‘Deleted Voters’.
Roy, Akhtar, and Khatun were among several deleted voters who gathered today at the Park Circus Maidan protest site, where a protest against SIR has been ongoing for the last 40 days.
From IIM Classrooms to ‘Deleted Voter’: Nandita Roy Questions ECI’s Process
The 38-year-old daughter of a war veteran and granddaughter of an army veteran, Roy is a distinguished academician who has not only taught in three Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs)—Kashipur, Lucknow, and Kolkata—but whose research work has also been published in renowned journals like Journal of Business Ethics and Management Learning.
She has been invited to international conferences as a speaker. “While I have all the documents, I followed every step. The only additional thing I had done was to fill out Form 8 for the change of address. Still, my name was there in the February 28 final draft. But later it was put under adjudication, and on March 31’s supplementary list, I found myself deleted,” Roy told eNewsroom.
“My grandfather and father were in the Indian Air Force, and my father was also a war veteran; he had participated in the 1971 (Indo-Pak) war,” informed the professor, whose ancestors are from Bengal. Roy has done her schooling at Assembly of God Church School and GD Birla, and completed her graduation, master’s, and PhD from Jadavpur University.
“There are two issues I want to point out. I have been told to fill Form 6. But why will I fill it? I have been a voter since 2009. Why should I become a new voter? And when privileged people like me, who have all the support systems to raise our voice and take necessary action, face this, I am thinking about the huge number of female voters whose names got deleted. I am shocked and term this situation of India as ‘Democracy has gone into Silence’,” added the furious professor.
Professor and MBBS Son Both Deleted: ‘Not a Jhola Chap,’ Says Akhtar
The case of 50-year-old Akhtar, the Head of the Department at Aliah University and a PhD scholar from Aligarh Muslim University, is more frightening, as not only his but also his son’s name—who is a first-year MBBS student—was deleted by the ECI.
“I have all the documents, including my passport. And there is no mismatch of names in my documents also. My other family members in Bihar were cleared in SIR, but they deleted not only me but my medical student son, whose name was added to the 2023 voter list. All the information is also available online. I am not a jhola chap; my work is needed in the international fraternity,” Akhtar added.
Gold Medalist, HoD, Yet ‘No Longer a Voter’: Khatun’s Disbelief
Khatun, the Head of the Department of Economics at Aliah University, is still in disbelief that she is no longer a voter in the world’s largest democracy.
The 39-year-old professor had earned her PhD from Burdwan University and was a Gold Medalist in MSc (Economics) from the same university. Khatun has published extensively in reputed indexed, UGC CARE-listed national and international journals and has presented her work at various prestigious academic conferences.
‘Add 27 Lakh Names or Let Me Die’: Activist’s Appeal to President, CJI
Along with the professors, activist Faridul Islam, whose name has been deleted, wrote to the President as well as the Chief Justice of India, seeking a wish for death if 27 lakh voters, along with him, were not added to the voter list.
Sandeep Ahamed, another social activist, also had his name deleted, as the software used to process the voter list put his name under adjudication due to a difference in spelling between “Sandip” and “Sandeep.”
The 54-year-old Ahamed, whose name was in the 2002 voter list, said, “The BLO, as well as a special observer, said to me that it is a software mistake and it will get corrected, but instead it got deleted.”
From 2002 Voters to Today’s ‘Deleted’: Elderly, Families Caught in the Fallout
Professor Akhtar, a voter from the Entally constituency, has also brought a 68-year-old citizen who has a similar name to him. Shamim Akhtar, a small-time businessman, is also a voter from Entally. The businessman, whose name was on the 2002 list, had undergone eye surgery and was wandering here and there with one eye. The only satisfaction for him is that his wife’s name is on the voter list.
Saheb Alam, a 60-year-old pensioner of National Jute Manufactures Corporation Limited (NJMC), has also been removed. Along with Alam, his 40-year-old nephew’s name was also deleted.
The 37-year-old Wasim Islam is also from Entally. He has been exercising his franchise since 2009, but in this SIR, not only his but also his two brothers’ and his 60-year-old mother’s names were deleted.
The Votadhikar Rakhya Manch also conducted a press conference on the April 14’s March from Park Circus to Esplanade, demanding that 27 lakh voters be added to the voter list.
On the occasion, several activists were present, including Sunita Biswas, Mahasweta Samajdar, and Gopa Mukherjee, along with the organizers Professor Saifullah, Zeeshan Zahid, and Mohammed Sajid.
Journalist Too ‘Deleted’: Anandabazar Desk Reporter Left Clueless
eNewsroom also came to know about a journalist, Chaitali Biswas, who works at the desk of the prominent Bangla newspaper Anandabazar Patrika, whose name was deleted.
“My father and mother both are voters. My name was not on the 2002 list, as I was not an eligible voter. Now I am clueless—why has it been deleted? The BLO did not cite any reason why it happened,” the journalist told eNewsroom.
