Malda (West Bengal), March 30 Members of the pro-Bengal advocacy group 'Bangla Pokkho' began a hunger strike on Monday in Malda district, demanding that the names of all voters who were removed during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls be included in the supplementary list.
Ikbal Malik, a member of the Bangla Pokkho district committee, said the protest began after a delegation of the organization submitted a deputation to the BDO office in Sujapur, alleging that a significant number of Bengali citizens had been excluded from the voter list in the district under the SIR process.
Those participating in the indefinite fast include Sahin Badsha, district secretary of Bangla Pokkho in Malda, Ikbal Malik, and activists Ashraful Hoque, Uttam Mandal, Sohel Selim, and Md Rafik Ahmed.
A central leadership team of the organization, led by Bangla Pokkho general secretary Garga Chatterjee, is on its way to Malda, a spokesperson for the group said.
Chatterjee had earlier alleged that the voter list revision process was being "misused to disenfranchise Bengali-speaking citizens" and warned of a larger statewide movement if the issue was not addressed immediately.
"We are witnessing systematic deletion of genuine voters in districts like Malda. This is an attack on the democratic rights of Bengalis. If the Election Commission does not intervene, Bangla Pokkho will intensify its protest across West Bengal," he said.
Malik said the decision to begin a hunger strike was "not pre-planned" but reflected "deep anger and frustration among local youths over repeated complaints going unheard".
The Malda district police have deployed personnel in the area and are closely monitoring the situation to prevent any untoward incident.