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In an open letter to the Telangana unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Telangana Voters’ Rights Forum (TVRF) questioned the party’s opposition to the state government’s recent decision to issue Family Register Certificates, one of the documents accepted under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi and several activists had been urging the government to issue the certificate, to help people facing difficulties during SIR. However, the BJP has opposed the move, claiming that it was a “backdoor attempt to legitimise Rohingya and Bangladeshi vote banks”, and to help “undocumented people” remain on the electoral rolls.
Reacting to these claims, the Telangana Voters’ Rights Forum, a group of academics and activists, asked BJP to share any evidence it has to support the allegations made by party members in their letter to the Election Commission that the Family Register Certificate helps “unqualified” and “illegal” people.
The letter also noted that lakhs of migrant workers live in Hyderabad, from villages in Telangana as well as other states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh. There are also many Hindu women in Telangana who moved here after marriage, and do not have sufficient identity documents for SIR, the letter said.
“Do you want to remove undocumented poor, working class, and downtrodden Hindus from the voter list? Do you support the Election Commission's rule that requires women who have been married for decades to provide their birth details in the form? What do you advise women who cannot provide such details and do not have any form of identification to do?” TVRF asked BJP Telangana.
TVRF also pointed out that the Family Register Certificate is an authentic document approved by the Election Commission. It is difficult for women and elders of all religions to submit the documents given by the Election Commission, TVRF said, welcoming the move to issue Family Register Certificates.
Similar documents were introduced in various states when the BJP was in power, TVRF said, citing examples of Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.
Members of TVRF include academic Padmaja Shaw, and activists Meera Sanghamitra, Shaik Salauddin, K Sajaya Mary Dias, Kanneganti Ravi, P Shankar, and Kiran Kumar Vissa.
