Actor Prakash Raj calls Modi, Amit Shah, Gyanesh Kumar ‘real traitors’ at NO SIR platform launch
New Delhi : Indian actor and activist Prakash Raj has said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar have undermined democracy through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, calling the three “the real traitors of this country.”
According to Kashmir Media Service, Raj made the remarks while addressing a press conference in New Delhi at the launch of the NO SIR National Platform, which brought together organizations and representatives from across India. The platform has demanded scrapping and reversal of the SIR, restoration of pre-SIR electoral rolls, removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar and initiation of criminal proceedings over the alleged illegal deletion of voters, besides changes to the law governing the appointment of election commissioners and reconstitution of the Election Commission of India (ECI) selection panel. The platform has also called for restoration of pre-SIR electoral rolls and has announced a programme of public verification, people’s tribunals and meetings across India as part of its campaign against the electoral roll revision.
Questioning the need for another Special Intensive Revision within months of the Election Commission publishing an updated electoral roll, Raj said the exercise raised serious concerns about the electoral process.
“It is proved that Gyanesh Kumar has committed a crime. He has tried to do a crime to kill the sovereignty of this country, to kill democracy of this country. Gyanesh Kumar, Narendra Modi and Amit Shah are the real traitors of this country,” he said.
“We might be ‘dimagi naxals’. Gyanesh Kumar, Narendra Modi and Amit Shah are the real traitors of this country,” he added.
Raj said the SIR was being justified in the name of removing “infiltrators”, but argued that the focus on infiltration was diverting attention from the wider consequences of the revision.
He also questioned whether election officials had been adequately trained to undertake the exercise across Karnataka, citing the state’s geographical diversity. He cited figures of 1.08 crore voters categorised as “absent, shifted, duplicated, deleted and others”, besides more than 43 lakh listed under “no mapping” and “no logical discrepancy”.
Describing his interactions with affected voters as “one of the most heart-rending, touching experiences”, Raj spoke about people living without basic documents and facilities. He said thousands of such people could be categorised as permanently shifted when their circumstances were not properly understood.
Raj also raised concerns over Form 7 applications seeking the deletion of voters’ names in Karnataka, saying that some applications contained pre-printed details of voters, while only the complainant’s details were handwritten.
He said that large numbers of such forms were being filed across Karnataka and questioned the scale of the exercise. He further argued that the SIR process would disproportionately affect minorities and marginalised communities.
“These people do not want minorities, Muslims, Christians, Dalits, Adivasis to vote. They are dividing this country into those who can vote and those who cannot vote,” he said, emphasising, “It is a clear-cut attempt to win the elections.”
Raj said Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was acting in the interests of the BJP, stating: “Gyanesh Kumar is an agent of BJP.”
He called on the Indian Supreme Court to examine decisions taken by the Election Commission and demanded that the SIR process be frozen.
