Darjeeling Muslim girl’s name not on voter list despite three attempts
Community says thousands of Muslim voters face adjudication before West Bengal assembly polls
Darjeeling/New Delh: A Muslim family in Darjeeling, India’s West Bengal state, has said that authorities are blocking their daughter’s name from the voter list despite several attempts to register.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the case comes from Ward No 19 of the Darjeeling Municipality, where members of the family of a resident, identified as Munir, say that five names from their household have been placed under adjudication during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls.
The revision exercise is being carried out by the Election Commission ahead of the assembly elections.
Munir’s daughter, Tanisha Khatun, a 21-year-old third-year student at Darjeeling government college, says she tried three times to get her name included, but each application was rejected.
“I tried three times to get my name included in the voter list, but it hasn’t happened yet. I am 21 years old and a third-year student. This time, too, my name did not appear. I think it is because I belong to the Muslim community,” Tanisha said.
According to the family, Tanisha first applied to register as a voter last year. Officials rejected her application because her father’s name had been entered incorrectly in government records.
After the mistake was corrected, she applied again. The second application was rejected because her name did not match the spelling on her Aadhaar card.
Tanisha then updated her Aadhaar details and submitted a third application.
Even after correcting both issues, her name still did not appear in the final list published after the revision process, the family said.
Munir said the repeated rejection has left the family shocked and upset. “My daughter is a citizen of this country and she is eligible to vote. Still, her name is not being included,” he added.
“The BJP people do not want any Muslim Indian to become a voter. Only about 12,000 Muslims are living in Darjeeling and around 60 percent are under adjudication,” he said.
“We are voters of the former MP of Darjeeling Hills. The BJP wants to delete our names so that we do not vote for our leader. But this will not be possible. We will fight till the end,” he vowed.
Members of the local Muslim community say the issue has caused deep concern because their population in the hills is small. They say that when a large number of names from such a small community are questioned or placed under review, it creates fear among residents that their voting rights could be taken away.
Locals claim that nearly 60 percent of Muslim names in the region have either been removed or placed under adjudication during the current voter list revision.
Community members say many families now feel that their citizenship and rights are being questioned despite living in the area for generations. Some residents said the situation has created a feeling of isolation.
Earlier reports from Darjeeling also mentioned that around 30 Muslims received notices asking them to verify their citizenship. The notices reportedly came after complaints from a resident who questioned their status as Indian citizens.
Families like Munir’s say they will continue to approach officials until the issue is resolved.
“My daughter has the right to vote like any other citizen,” Munir said. “We will keep raising our voice until her name is included.”
