Bengal polls: 72-year-old retired teacher, former presiding officer deleted in SIR

Kolkata: A 72-year-old retired schoolteacher with 37 years of service, including five years as teacher-in-charge, has been deleted from the electoral roll, despite submitting valid documents. Sk Asraful Haque, a Khanakul voter, was also presiding officer for at least 10 to 12 elections during his service tenure.

Haque was a teacher and teacher-in-charge at Ramchandrapur Adarsha Vidya Bhawan (HS) in Khanakul.

The retired teacher is the only one in his family whose name has been deleted. Names of his wife, daughters and younger brothers are there on the voters' list.

Haque said, "We are living here for generations. I have our ancestral land records from 1944 and 1958. In the 1956 electoral roll, my parents' names were there and I have that document. My name was there in the 2002 electoral roll. Still, I was called for hearing. In the notice, there was no specific reason mentioned for which I was called."

"During the hearing at the BDO office, I took all documents such as educational certificates, passport, land records, pension order, PAN card, Aadhaar card, bank documents and others. Since I had passport, land records and pension order, the officials during hearing told me that these were enough and asked me to submit the copies. I submitted copies of my passport, land records and pension order and collected a receipt. But when the list came out, I found myself under adjudication and later deleted in the supplementary list," he added.

The septuagenarian has filed an appeal at the tribunal. "At this age, I am running here and there to restore my voting right and prove my citizenship. I do not know whether the officials properly checked the documents or not. Is it possible to delete the name of a person who has passport, land records and pension order?" Haque asked. He added that he was a teacher from 1977 to 2014, including five years as a teacher-in-charge. "During my service, I also served as the presiding officer in at least 10 to 12 elections. This is the first time that I will not be able to vote while others in my family will vote. It is a sad situation. Does a law-abiding citizen with lifelong public service deserve such harassment?" he rued.


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