Civil society groups in Karnataka launch campaign against Election Commission’s SIR
Bengaluru: More than 100 representatives from civil society organisations, political parties, trade unions, women’s groups, and student unions gathered in Bengaluru on Friday to oppose the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) decision to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Karnataka.
The meeting, held at the Legislators’ Home, culminated in the adoption of a resolution to launch a state-wide campaign titled “My Vote, My Right”, aimed at resisting what participants described as an “NRC-like” process that could lead to the disenfranchisement of marginalised voters.
Speakers at the meeting drew parallels with similar revisions in Bihar, where over 6.8 million names were reportedly deleted from electoral rolls, with Dalits, Muslims, women, and migrant workers being disproportionately affected. They argued that the SIR shifts the burden of proof of eligibility onto citizens, reversing the earlier rule that required the Election Commission to justify voter deletions.
“The SIR follows the same logic as the NRC,” said Vinay Sreenivasa of Bahutva Karnataka. “It shifts the burden onto citizens and risks large-scale disenfranchisement.”
Clifton D’Rozario of the CPI(ML) Liberation said that many poor and marginalised voters do not possess the documents now sought by the ECI, such as birth certificates or matriculation certificates. Activists further expressed concern that the SIR authorises election officials to refer “suspected foreign nationals” to authorities under the Citizenship Act, 1955, a clause they said could be weaponised against minorities and the poor.
“This gives unbridled powers to local officials and can be misused against vulnerable communities,” said a joint statement issued after the meeting.
Presiding over the discussion, Indudara Honnapura, founder-member of the Dalit Sangharsha Samiti (DSS), urged mass mobilisation against the measure. “Voters choose their leaders, but now the Election Commission wants to choose the voters,” he said.
The participants urged the Karnataka government to pass a resolution against SIR, similar to Kerala’s stance opposing the NRC and CAA, and demanded that the ECI hold wider consultations with civil society organisations before implementing the process.
The round table was attended by representatives from PUCL Karnataka, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, AICCTU, AIPWA, AISA, the All India Lawyers Association for Justice, and the Students’ Federation of India, among others.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
