KOLKATA: Anxiety and uncertainty have gripped thousands of electors in the ‘Chhitmahal’ or enclaves of the bordering Cooch Behar district in West Bengal after the Election Commission of India (ECI) published, around midnight, the first supplementary list of disposed cases covering nearly 29 lakh voters out of more than 60 lakh marked as ‘under adjudication’.
Around 11,000 adjudicated voters, out of nearly 18,000 residents of the ‘Chhitmahal’ awaiting clearance from judicial officers for their voting rights, have been left in deep uncertainty.
Many rushed to the office of the local Block Development Officer (BDO) on Tuesday to ascertain their status after the ECI released the supplementary list of adjudicated voters at around 11.55 pm on Monday on its official website.
“I have checked the ECI website repeatedly this morning, but it is showing my case as ‘under adjudication’. The local BDO office could not say anything about it. We don’t know what is waiting for us,” said Jainal Abedin, a resident of Madhya Masaldanga, one of the enclaves.
“Around 11,000 dwellers here have been living with anxiety and uncertainty since the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls began in Bengal four months ago. We frantically checked the website where the supplementary list has been uploaded, but nothing is there. It shows that we are still ‘under adjudication’,” said Safikul Islam, another resident.
“We will intensify our movement against the Central Government and the Commission if we are deleted from the voters’ list,” he said.
Tensions have been simmering in the former Bangladeshi enclaves in West Bengal since the ECI decided to distribute enumeration forms marked ‘Chhitmahal’ or ‘Enclaves’ to thousands of enclave dwellers in Cooch Behar district in November last year, when the SIR exercise began across the state.
“Our names figured in the 2015 voter list when 51 Bangladeshi enclaves became Indian villages under the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) signed between India and Bangladesh the same year. We became Indian citizens, and close to 16,000 residents were recorded in the 51 enclaves during the LBA,” said Saddam Hossain, a resident of Puatur Kuthi enclave along the border.
“We had submitted Aadhaar, PAN, voter ID and ration cards, but all these documents were issued after July 2015. These are allegedly not considered valid enough for our Indian citizenship,” said Jainal.
“Demanding inclusion of voters’ details from the 2015 rolls, residents of several enclaves had earlier sent back booth level officers (BLOs) engaged by the EC. With assurances from the Commission, we decided to fill up the enumeration forms, which are marked ‘Chhitmahal’ and duly signed by BLOs during the exercise,” said Safikul of Masaldanga enclave.
“With instructions from the DEO office, we had assured voters that enumeration forms would be marked ‘Chhitmahal’ to avoid problems in the inclusion of their names in the electoral rolls,” a BLO said.
Sources in the ECI said the Calcutta High Court has been monitoring the issue related to the 60 lakh voters marked as ‘under adjudication’ in West Bengal following the SIR of electoral rolls. They are awaiting clearance from judicial officers to retain their voting rights.
The ECI had initiated a special move for enclave residents by distributing enumeration forms marked ‘Chhitmahal’ in Cooch Behar district amid the SIR exercise that began on November 4.
After the 2015 India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement, 51 Bangladeshi enclaves in Cooch Behar became Indian territory, granting citizenship to about 18,000 residents.
Enclave dwellers have been demanding that details from the 2015 electoral rolls, the year they were first recognised as Indian voters, be included in the current SIR enumeration forms instead of older records from 2002.
Residents argue they lacked Indian identity documents before 2015, making earlier references invalid for updating their details in the voter list.
Several residents had initially refused to fill up enumeration forms, sending back BLOs in protest, but later resumed participation after the ECI assured them that the forms would be marked ‘Chhitmahal’.