The Election Commission of India's (ECI) announcement of last week marked the beginning of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal, along with 11 other states and UTs. 72 hours after the announcement, the real impact has started surfacing as three deaths have been reported from around the state.
Suicides in West Bengal
Panic has spread to every corner of the state of West Bengal over the Special Intensive Revision process. On 28 October, Pradeep Kar, a 57-year-old resident of Panihati, took his own life from the fear of possibly being marked as an illegal immigrant in his own country. He has left a letter behind in which he explicitly blamed the National Register of Citizens (NRC) for his demise.
ALSO READ | ‘Mantha’ downpour impacts Bankura, farmers fear crop damage
President of Trinamool Youth Congress, Abhishek Banerjee, visited the family of Pradeep Kar. Where he has urged families not to worry. Banerjee has warned, saying, "Don’t run away from the country when the government changes."
The second incident came to light a day later on Wednesday, CoochBehar's Jitpur resident Khayrul Sheikh allegedly tried to take his own life by consuming poison from the same fear as Pradip Kar. He is undergoing treatment at the hospital.
Similarly, Kshitish Chandra Majumdar, a resident of Birbhum’s Illambazar block, has allegedly taken his own life at his daughter’s residence in Schoolbagan Subhaspally. His body has been sent for a post-mortem, according to a Bhaskar English report.
ALSO READ | JU student allegedly commits suicide while returning home with mother
His family has been visited by Local Trinamool Congress leader Ravi Murmu and others, when the family members have alleged that the reason behind Majumdar's such extreme decision was from the fear of SIR, the Bhaskar English report added.
The ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is scheduled to release the final electoral roll by 7 February of next year. During which 51 Crore people's names on the voter list will be verified.
