SIR will create permanent class of excluded citizens: Owaisi

Hyderabad parliamentarian Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday criticised the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and accused the Union government of creating a ‘permanent class of excluded Indians’ by means of this exercise.

Taking to X, Mr. Owaisi, who is the president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, maintained that the SIR exercise has led to deletion of nearly 6.5 crore names from electoral rolls across 13 States and Union Territories.

Describing the right to vote as ‘the poor’s only weapon against the powerful’, Mr. Owaisi said disenfranchisement would leave vulnerable communities exposed to arbitrary government action. He claimed that reports had already emerged of people being denied benefits under government welfare schemes.

The Hyderabad Member of Parliament contended that deletion from electoral rolls under SIR did not amount to a determination that a person was not an Indian citizen. He noted that 27 lakh cases remained under adjudication and that many people could reapply for enrolment through Form 6. He further alleged that the Election Commission had not released data on the number of persons excluded on the grounds of being foreigners.

Mr. Owaisi claimed that those excluded were predominantly Muslims, women, migrants and the poor.