“ Are we Rohingya or Bangladeshis?” : Voter List Drive Leaves Entire Family in Limbo in Metiabruz

“I think they consider us Rohingya or Bangladeshi,” says a resident of Metiabruz, his voice marked by exhaustion and disbelief. The revision exercise has reportedly resulted in the deletion of nearly 40,000 names in Metiabruz alone , cutting across age groups and households. In one family, seven members live together, yet only one name remains on the voter list. The rest, including elderly members and younger, voters have been removed, highlighting how the impact of the process has spared neither the old nor the new.

“We are common citizens, we work hard, but we don’t have the power to fight the government.” His words capture a growing sense of alienation among families affected by the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the area.

At the Centre of the struggle , there is a technical discrepancy. According to a family member, a minor spelling error in the mother’s name triggered a chain reaction, leading to the deletion of all linked entries. Despite possessing multiple forms of identification like Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, ration cards, and voter IDs, the family now finds itself excluded from the electoral system. The mother says , “ I have all the documents, a house under the PM Awas Yojana , still they have deleted my name.”

The oldest woman in the household insists that all documents are valid and in place. Her children have approached the court, but the process has come at a cost. Daily wage earners in the family say attending hearings has disrupted their livelihoods. “We lose a day’s earnings every time we go,” one member explains. 
He describes the toll ,the process has taken on their daily lives. Attending hearings means losing wages, something he cannot afford. “I am a hard working man,” he says. “But we treat this situation is like Ramadan, we stay hungry through the day and still have to keep working. Now, because of all this, we cannot work during the day and are forced to work at night. Our bodies are exhausted.”

Residents allege that the SIR process, instead of verifying voters, has intensified their hardship. Many claim that documents once considered valid proof of identity are now being questioned, leaving them uncertain about how to re establish their citizenship. The lack of clarity has deepened anxieties, particularly among economically vulnerable families who lack the resources to navigate prolonged legal procedures.

A younger member of the family views the issue through a political lens, alleging that such deletions are being carried out deliberately . “This is a way to weaken the Trinamool Congress ,” he claims adding that similar incidents have also been reported elsewhere . He alleges harassment and questions inconsistency in the acceptance of the documents. “Earlier PM Modi called the Aadhar to be the proof of citizenship, now even that is not accepted. Is this not harassment?” 
“It feels like whatever PM Modi says becomes the law, even the Supreme Court verdicts has no power nowadays,” he added .

For the family the issue has gone beyond voter registration. They described it as a matter of dignity, legality and constitutional rights, one they believe demands urgent attention and resolution.