E-Paper
For many, voting slips become that elusive document — proof of citizenship
New Delhi: Outside a polling booth in Ballimaran, a group of people carefully folded their voting slips and put them back in their wallets after casting their votes
New Delhi: Outside a polling booth in Ballimaran, a group of people carefully folded their voting slips and put them back in their wallets after casting their votes Saturday. The voters said they have decided to safely keep the voting slips, a document to “prove their citizenship”, in the event a National Register of Citizens (NRC) is carried out in the country.
Syyed Shahid Ali, a voter, said locals have collectively decided not to throw away the slips like they would do earlier. “There is a fear among locals here regarding the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and NRC. We have decided to keep our voting slips safe. What else can be a more important document to prove our citizenship than these slips that give us a right to vote?” he said.
Residents in several neighbourhoods of the Walled City, including Jama Masjid, Matia Mahal, Turkman Gate and Ajmeri Gate, said they were also keeping their voting slips.
Kausar Bi, a homemaker in Matia Mahal, said they had received WhatsApp forwards Friday wherein people were requested to save their voting slips. “We were informed that these slips can be produced as an important document to prove our citizenship, especially for those who do not have proper documents,” she said.
On the day when Delhi went to polls, the Karnataka unit of BJP sparked a controversy by posting a video of Muslim women queuing up with voter IDs in their hands on its Twitter handle and said, “Kaagaz Nahi Dikayenge Hum (we will not show the paper)!!! Keep the documents safe, you will need to show them again during NPR exercise.”
In Turkman Gate, a group of women, who are sitting on an indefinite sit-in against the CAA and NRC akin to the protest in Shaheen Bagh, said they have also requested voters to preserve their voting slips.
Ruby Khan, one of the women protesters, said, “At a time when the government is saying that even Aadhaar card will not be sufficient to prove our citizenship, every small thing matters. We have requested the women in the neighbourhood to safely keep the voting slips of all their family members.”
