"Minorities have been targeted": Kolkata's Nakhoda Masjid's Imam raise concern over SIR

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], October 12 (ANI): Kolkata's Nakhoda Masjid's Imam Maulana Mohd Shafique Qazmi on Sunday expressed concerns over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise by the Election Commission.
Speaking with ANI, he acknowledged the Election Commissioner's right to revise the voter list every 10 years but emphasised that people should not be harassed in the process. Qazmi condemned the alleged targeting of minorities in Bihar, stating that their names were being removed from the voter list, which he claimed was discriminatory.
He suggested that instead of deleting names, a life certificate should be issued to make it easier for people and the government.
"The Election Commissioner has the right to revise the voter list every 10 years, and rightly so, many people die or migrate to other states or cities... But people should not be harassed in the name of SIR... The list should be modified and a life certificate should be issued to the people, which will make it easy not only for the people but also for the government... The way names have been deleted from the voter list in Bihar is condemnable. Only minorities have been targeted and their names removed. This discrimination is not right..." Qazmi told ANI.
Meanwhile, AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi alleged that the exercise was conducted in a "hurry," and that verifying citizenship was the mandate of the Home Ministry.
In an interview with ANI, Owaisi said that if those whose names were deleted don't check, "you'll see there'll be another uproar on polling day".
He said AIMIM's Bihar unit chief, Akhtarul Iman, had moved the Supreme Court regarding the SIR.
Bihar will go to the polls in two phases on November 6 and 11, and votes will be counted on November 14. The Election Commission announced the poll dates after the completion of SIR.
Owaisi stated that 65 lakh names were removed in the draft electoral roll, and now the Election Commission has removed an additional 3.5 lakh voters.
He said Bihar is a large state with a vast rural population, and the Election Commission announced the SIR exercise only in June.
"SIR is an issue. On behalf of our party, Akhtarul Iman, the president, personally went to the Supreme Court. If those whose names were deleted don't check, you'll see there'll be another uproar on polling day. 650,000 names were removed. Now, the Election Commission has removed another 350,000...Now, the 350,000 will have to be checked again. What we're saying is, what was the hurry? You could have taken your time," Owaisi said.
"So, there was so much pressure on the BLOs, and the dangerous thing is that they wrote in the notification that if they go to someone's house two or three times and don't find the voter, then the voter will inform their ERO, or the ERO will inform the competent authority under the Foreigners Citizenship Act. So, tell me, how will this happen? So, it has nothing to do with this - it is not your job to check citizenship. So, that is the job of the MHA," he added.
The Election Commission had published the final electoral roll for the Bihar assembly elections last month, following the completion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). The total number of electors in the final list stands at 7.42 crore, while there were 7.89 crore electors as of June 24 this year. (ANI)