'The long term strategy is that this government wants to create a second class citizen list.'
Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya accuses the Election Commission of India of systematically moving the country away from a universal franchise towards a "selective franchise," alleging that the ECI is "changing rules on the ground daily," mirroring the approach seen during the demonetisation period.
On Wednesday, Bhattacharya was part of the Opposition rally to the Election Commission office in Patna to protest against the special intensive revision of the electoral rolls being undertaken in Bihar.
Public sentiment against the SIR has been building, especially over fears that the exercise may be extended nationwide.
"The harsh reality is that the Bihar election survey is nothing but a citizenship test... They have begun this process with Bihar but later they will add all the states to it," Bhattacharya tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff in the concluding segment of the interview
What is happening on the ground in Bihar during the voter enumeration drive?
The ECI is changing rules every day like they have done during notebandi. Now, the Election Commission says that you have to just submit the enumeration form without any documents or even your current photograph.
This contradicts the original ECI circular where every elector had to submit a photo, fill the enumeration form with supporting (any of the 11) documents.
Why did this happen, you think?
In the last 10 days only 14% of forms that the ECI distributed have come back. So you can presume in another 30 days you will get maximum 60% of forms filled or may be 2/3rd, and it looks like 1/3rd aof the forms will not be submitted at all.
The ECI is now disturbed as at the draft stage people should not be eliminated, that is the reason they are saying just submit the (enumeration) form and you will be involved in the draft.
What happens next? You've still got to submit the documents and you as an elector have no documents.
After this the situation becomes very opaque and subjective as the ERO (electoral registration officer) will have discretion on people who have not been able to submit the documents. He will on local investigation and other available documents decide (whether you can vote or not).
Does it mean the ERO will decide whether you are an Indian citizen or not?
Yes, the ERO will decide on your Indian citizenship. And the Election Commission of India says they are not judging citizenship but only electoral eligibility.
They cannot say they are judging citizenship, but the harsh reality is that the Bihar election survey is nothing but a citizenship test.
After an elector submits all documents, does the ERO give you proof of acceptance of your documents?
No, they do not do that. There is no counterfoil of acceptance. There is no photocopy also accepted as a receipt copy. There is absolute chaos on ground. We have gone to the Supreme Court of India against the SIR.
What is the long term strategy of the government, you think?
The long term strategy is that this government wants to create a second class citizens list.
They want to disenfranchise people and keep them in anxiety.
It is basically meant for the Muslims of India, migrant workers and poor sections of the Indian population.
You see, the BJP talks about Bangladeshis or Rohingyas all the time.
If they say they are in India, then who is responsible for their entry into India? It is the home ministry under which the Border Security Force works.
The BSF has expanded their jurisdiction 50 km from the Indian border wherever the international borders are located. By raising this bogey (Rohingyas and Bangladeshis) you are harassing every citizen of India.
Don't you feel it is important to track down illegal migrants in India? The Indian Citizenship Act of 2003 saw inserting of the words 'illegal migrants' so that they do not get Indian citizenship. What is wrong to track down and deport them?
Earlier if you had identified illegal immigrants you could scrutinise them and there was a legal process for it. But this (SIR) is a process in which you doubt every Indian citizen and it is a reversal of the natural justice system.
The natural justice system says you are innocent till proven guilty. So if you are saying you are an Indian but (the ECI says) a doubtful Indian citizen, it means every Indian is a potential illegal immigrant.
They have just begun this process with Bihar but later they will add all the states to it.
In 1952, when we conducted our first election it was meant to be universal franchise and today we are seeing Bihar elections being conducted where the poor has little chance to vote if they do not have one of those 11 documents.
How do you see this change and what does the future hold?
One of the major salient features of our Constitution was universal franchise.
In many parts of the world people had to struggle for decades to secure their electoral rights.
Even in the USA the black (African-American) community had no right to vote till the 1960s.
There were many layers of exclusion in other countries where even women were not considered as voters.
There were economic exclusions too in some countries where people without property could not vote.
Here in India we had none of those problems.
But now the Election Commission of India is going by citizenship criterion and asking you to bring your matriculation certificate before allowing you to vote.
In other words, you are expecting only a matriculate to vote because you expect that to be the minimum qualification for an elector.
And here in Bihar, that percentage is close to only 15 percent.
Another thing, you expect people to produce the birth certificate in Bihar knowing well that many births take place at home and the birth is not registered. There is no institutional network.
You are then asking for ownership of land or house without knowing how many people actually own homes.
From universal franchise we are looking at selective adult franchise.
You are creating a doubtful voter list. You want to send them to detention centres and then deport them. This is a classic example of fascism.
You are creating a vulnerable category of population. You have an internal enemy whom you want to kick around.
Do the poor not have any of the 11 documents required?
No, they don't have. They had no idea and everybody is saying they don't have.
Booth level officers (BLOs) who have been appointed for the assistance for Election Commission officers, they too don't have one of these 11 documents that the ECI is asking.
Just like bank employees started dying due to work pressure during demonetisation, these BLOs are falling ill because of work pressure.
There is complete chaos on the ground in Bihar. This entire exercise (SIR) by the Election Commission is not maintainable, and unsustainable.
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