SIR exercise aimed at disenfranchising Muslims, says Prashant Bhushan

Bengaluru

Speaking in the city on Sunday, Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan alleged that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) being carried out in various states was aimed at excluding large sections of the Muslim population from voter rolls so that the BJP could win elections and eventually amend the Constitution to fulfil its longterm goal of establishing a Hindu Rashtra. “The whole object of the SIR was to carry it out in a manner designed to exclude large sections of the Muslim population from the voters’ list, thereby denying them voting rights and reducing them to second-class citizens,” Bhushan said.

He recalled that the BJP had earlier attempted similar measures through the NRC and by allegedly trying to dilute the secular character of the Constitution, but had failed on both counts. According to him, the SIR exercise was the latest attempt in that direction. Bhu s han claimed that one of the key “tricks” used in the SIR process involved identifying so-called “logical discrepancies” linked to Aadhaar cards, which are also accepted as identity proof for inclusion in electoral rolls. He alleged that this mechanism was specifically used to target Muslim voters, particularly those believed to support the TMC.

“They claimed that out of the 6-7 crore people remaining on the voters’ list, 60 lakh had logical discrepancies. This was targeted. Thecentral Election Commission allegedly used software that could identify Muscould identify Muslims,” he said.Bhushan further criticised the Supreme Court for what he described as a lackadaisical approach, claiming that only around 1,500 names had been restored while the remaining appealswould take years to be decided, effectively depriving many of their right to vote in the election.

He also accused the Election Commission of acting in a partisan manner in favour of the BJP. According to him, the Chief Election Commissioner was appointed under a flawed law that gave the government a majority role in the selection process. Bhushan concluded by saying that the only solution to the country’s growing challenges – including unemployment, privatisation of the public sector, unfilled government vacancies, the proposed US trade deal and what he termed a flawed electoral system – was a large-scale public protest. He said any such movement would need to be peaceful, well organised and supported by committed organisations, while also being prepared to face state repression through the use of police powers and legal  measures.