A special revision of electoral rolls has resulted in 50 million Indians losing their citizenship. They are being classified as migrants from neighboring Bangladesh or Rohingya refugees from Burma.
The majority of those affected are Indian Muslims, particularly from the weaker sections of society. Absurd reasons are being cited for their exclusion.
With 25% of voters yet to be scrutinized, this figure is expected to rise.
This toxic atmosphere is also unsettling eligible voters, who fear that they might be next in line to have their citizenship revoked on similarly frivolous grounds.
Which country is suitable for Indian Muslims for permanent settlement—where one can earn a living and lead a harmonious life. He shall not do currency exchange to remit funds to India. Earn and spend.
The Supreme Court orally reiterated that deletion from the electoral roll under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) does not automatically lead to the loss of citizenship status.
The Court clarified that the Election Commission of India (ECI) is not the final authority to determine citizenship.
Citizenship status continues for other purposes until final adjudication by the concerned authority under the Citizenship Act.
Concerns were raised regarding the withdrawal of welfare benefits, such as the Public Distribution System (PDS) and Annapurna Yojana, for individuals whose names were deleted from electoral rolls.
Approximately 33.5 lakh appeals are pending before Appellate Tribunals against exclusions from the voters list, with only about 38,000 disposed of so far.
Detailed Insights:
The SIR is a large-scale exercise undertaken by the ECI to verify and revise electoral rolls, aiming to remove duplicate entries, deceased voters, or non-citizens.
The Supreme Court's current remarks align with its previous judgment upholding the Bihar SIR, where it recognized the ECI's plenary powers under Article 324 of the Constitution for electoral roll revision.
The Court emphasized that if the ECI removes a person from the electoral roll due to doubtful citizenship, it has a corresponding duty to refer the matter to the Central Government for adjudication under the Citizenship Act.
The Supreme Court clarified that the ECI does not hold constitutional authority to decide citizenship status under Articles 9, 10, and 11 of the Constitution.
The slow disposal rate of appeals by the Appellate Tribunals, with 70% of decided cases resulting in restoration, highlights a significant interim deprivation of voting rights and welfare benefits for many citizens.
The withdrawal of essential welfare benefits while appeals are pending raises critical questions about the protection of civil rights for those affected by electoral roll deletions.
'Potentially Affecting a Great Number of Muslims':
UN Special Rapporteurs Flag Concerns Over Mass Voter Deletions in SIR
The Wire Staff
July 13, 2026
New Delhi: Three UN special rapporteurs have written to the Union government raising alarm over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, saying the exercise led to large-scale removal of names from voter lists, with minority communities, particularly Muslims, bearing the brunt of the exclusions.
"In the context of the SIR process, statements were reportedly made by politicians and senior public figures of the government, which appear to reflect and reinforce a pattern of discriminatory rhetoric directed at Muslim, Bengali, and other minority communities," the letter dated May 1, 2026, sent jointly by Nicolas Levrat, special rapporteur on minority issues; Irene Khan, special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression; and Nazila Ghanea, special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, mentioned.
It added: "Senior government officials, including the Union home minister [Amit Shah], have reportedly publicly framed the deletion of voter names as targeting "illegal Bangladeshi immigrants" – rhetoric that conflates legitimate Indian Muslim citizens with foreign nationals. It is reported that there has been repeated invocation of this framing by the highest levels of the executive, including the characterisation of the SIR as a mechanism to 'purify' electoral rolls of infiltrators."
The letter also referred a policy framing described before parliament through the phrase 'Detect, Delete and Deport' for the removal of a religious community by "state-administered electoral process".
"We are particularly concerned by the way in which the SIR process has been conducted, notably the reported removal of millions of voters names from electoral rolls, potentially affecting a great number of Muslims and persons of Bengali descent, as well as other minorities, who may be wrongfully excluded from the updated electoral rolls because of their historical and continuing treatment as foreigners and illegal immigrants, notably in West Bengal," the letter mentioned.
The rapporteurs argued that "discriminatory rhetoric by politicians and senior public figures" could amount to incitement to discrimination under Article 20(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which India ratified in 1979, and may run counter to India's obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).
The rapporteurs noted that the SIR drive was rolled out by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on November 4, 2025 across nine states and three Union Territories – Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and Puducherry – covering 321 districts and 1,843 assembly constituencies. This came after an earlier pilot version of the exercise was carried out in Bihar between June and September 2025.
While the ECI has maintained that the goal of the revision is to ensure that "the names of all eligible citizens are included in the electoral roll" while keeping "no ineligible voter" on the list, the rapporteurs' letter pointed out a starkly different picture on the ground.
It states that roughly 52 million names were deleted across the states and Union Territories covered, with West Bengal alone accounting for 9.1 million deletions. Many of those affected reportedly had valid identification documents but were struck off the rolls anyway.
The letter singled out Nandigram in West Bengal as an especially troubling case.
"In one constituency, namely Nandigram, allegedly 95% of the deleted voters were Muslims, even though Muslims only make up 25% of the constituency’s electorate. The affected constituency in Nandigram reportedly includes men, women, and elderly citizens who are Indian nationals with valid identity documents. They have sought redress through domestic remedies, including recourse to the ECI and judicial review by the Supreme Court of India, which declined to stay the process on 6 April, 2026," it mentioned.
The rapporteurs also raised questions about how deletions were justified, noting that minor spelling inconsistencies in documents, reportedly common across India due to "administrative challenges" were used as grounds for striking names off the list.
Further, the letter pointed out the ECI's use of an AI-based system to flag "irregularities" in voter data, warning that it raised concerns about transparency, errors and potential bias.
The letter posed a series of questions to the Union government, including information on steps taken by the government to ensure that the substance and implementation of the SIR process, including the administration of the claims and objection period, complies with India’s obligations under international human rights law and standards.
Further, the letter sought details on steps taken to ensure that the SIR process has not resulted in the exclusion of eligible voters from their participation in the public elections of 2026.
The rapporteurs asked for detailed data on the exact number of voters removed, the reasons cited for each deletion, and a religious and ethnic breakdown of those excluded from the rolls.
It also asked New Delhi to explain what safeguards were in place during the "claims and objections" period and what measures were taken to ensure access to effective remedies before the two-phase Assembly elections in West Bengal.
The letter also sought information on measures undertaken to eliminate any discriminatory treatment of minorities, including Muslims and persons of Bengali descent, as well as other minorities, with regard to the right to vote and to choose their representatives freely.
Moreover, the rapporteurs asked for information on measures that the state is taking to provide effective remedies to individuals found to have been “wrongfully removed from electoral rolls” and consequently deprived of their right to vote, particularly in cases where no timely remedy was available before the elections took place.
The rapporteurs noted that the communication, along with any response from the Union government, will be made public on the UN's communications reporting website 60 days from the date of issue, and may also be referenced in future reports to the Human Rights Council.
At present, the third phase of SIR of electoral rolls is ongoing in 16 states and three Union Territories.
This cannot be undone and I am sure it will be greatly appreciated.
We apologise but you have been denied access to report posts in this thread. This could be due to excessively reporting posts and not understanding our forum rules. For assistance or information, please use the forum help thread to request more information. Jazakallah
