AIMIM readies legal network to help electors ahead of SIR claims and objections phase
With the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) enumeration forms distribution in full swing, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has encouraged lawyers to come forward and
With the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) enumeration forms distribution in full swing, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has encouraged lawyers to come forward and help electors who are likely to receive notices during the claims and objections period. Party president Asaduddin Owaisi demanded that the Congress government issue Permanent Residence certificates as an SIR document. Speaking to The Hindu, Mr Owaisi said, “There were around 70 to 80 lawyers who had come to a session today. They asked several questions about the SIR process. That was the whole purpose. The idea is to equip lawyers with knowledge of the processes ahead of the period of filing claims and objections so that they can be ready to help electors.” A team from SABAR Institute, a public policy research initiative that worked extensively on SIR and analysed data in West Bengal, shared its insights and experiences with the lawyers.
During the meeting, Mr Owaisi also cautioned the Congress government in Telangana to take the SIR process seriously. He urged it to recognise the fact that a large number of electors, especially those from weaker sections of society, do not possess documents such as birth certificates that are included in the prescribed list of voter verification documents. He called on the State government to issue Permanent Resident Certificates (PRCs), similar to Karnataka, where a Congress government is in power. “We demand that the ruling party issue Permanent Resident Certificates (PRCs) immediately,” he said, suggesting that electors whose parents’ or grandparents’ names appear on the 2002 electoral rolls should be issued PRCs.
“If the ruling party does not understand that the poor of Telangana do not have documents, then they are cut off from reality,” he said. He also criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Union Ministers from Telangana for not pressing for the inclusion of documents such as PAN cards, driving licences and food security cards as valid documents for the enumeration process. He also criticised the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), the principal Opposition party in the State, for not doing enough. Mr Owaisi underscored the role lawyers would play during the filing of claims and objections under the SIR exercise. Their efforts, he said, could help restore the voting rights of thousands, if not lakhs, of genuine voters.
Functionaries of the AIMIM, who have been active in spreading awareness about the SIR exercise and progeny mapping, besides operating the party’s help desks well before the distribution of enumeration forms began on June 25, said the party leadership is serious about assisting electors who are likely to receive notices. They said the leadership would directly monitor lawyers assisting voters in each constituency during the claims and objections phase.
The BriefWire