E-Paper
Iranian families ask for voting rights
The descendants of ancient Iranian settlers in West Bengal are demanding voting rights.
The descendants of ancient Iranian settlers in West Bengal are demanding voting rights.
The Iranian families of the state's Murshidabad district are among thousands settled across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Unlike their more prosperous brethren in cities like Mumbai, the Iranians of Murshidabad, who number around 100 families, are poor and engaged in menial jobs.
But they enjoy most facilities that other Indians do, including subsidised food rationed by the government.
"Many of us have ration cards, but not voting rights," says Saddar Sheikh, a 40-year-old Iranian in Lalbagh town.
"We have been living here for decades, but we are left out every time the electoral rolls are revised," Sheikh complains.
Pleads Rupsara Khatun, a 45-year-old Iranian-Indian: "We are Indians of Iranian origin. So we shouldn't be discriminated against."
Though ration cards are generally accepted as proof of identity for getting voters' identity cards, in border districts like Murshidabad that is contiguous to Bangladesh, several other documents are needed to establish one's citizenship.
The Iranians don't have them. The district administration says it doesn't doubt their identity, but cannot include them in the voters' list without the required documents. District officials also say Iranians don't register their births.
Some Iranian-Indians have received the right to vote in the state's Burdwan and Midnapore districts.
India's links with Iran are ancient. During Muslim rule, Persians came as bureaucrats with Turkish rulers in India and even left a deep impact on Indian culture, civilisation and languages like Hindustani, Urdu and Hindi.
Persian, Iran's language, was the official language of Bengal throughout the Muslim period and Persian literature enormously influenced local arts.
Many Persian words entered Bengali language and literature as well as official documents.
