EC's electoral roll revision in Bengal sparks citizenship concerns among transgender community

Kolkata, Nov 4 (IANS) As the Election Commission of India (ECI) commenced the first phase of the three-stage Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal on Tuesday, the state's transgender community, particularly those who have undergone gender affirming surgery (GAS) or gender confirmation surgery (GCS), expressed an acute sense of uncertainty regarding their voter status.

Their concerns, to an extent, are genuine, mainly on two grounds.

The primary concerns among community members centre on significant mismatches in identity documents, namely, gender, name, and appearance after their transition.

The second concern is that the “transgender identity card” issued by the Union government, as well as the certificate given through the National Portal for Transgender Persons, which are often required to update one’s gender in documents such as PAN, Aadhaar, and even passports, do not appear among the twelve supporting documents listed by the Election Commission for the SIR process.

IANS spoke with several transgender activists in the city, as well as legal experts, to understand the community’s concerns regarding the SIR and possible ways to resolve them.

Prominent activist and former member of the West Bengal Transgender Development Board, Ranjita Sinha, told IANS that there is a fear of having to fight once again for the right to an Indian identity for transgender persons.

Sinha said, “People who changed their identity, whether through surgery or self-declaration, will face serious difficulty. If someone’s name was on the 2002 voters’ list, the photograph and name recorded then will not match their present identity. Booth Level Officers will also visit homes for verification. Many transgender persons were forced out of their homes after choosing to live according to their identity. Some parents even declared their children dead. What will happen to such individuals?”

She added that many community members now stay in transgender shelter homes.

Sinha said, “Many do not even possess the transgender cards issued by the government. How will they get their names added to the voters’ list when they will first be asked to prove their citizenship? The government formulates policy without taking into consideration the plight of the transgender community. There is uncertainty among our community members, and we need clear guidance from the government to remove this anxiety.”

Speaking to IANS, Debangshi Biswas Chowdhury, founder of Transgender Odhikar Sanghati Mancha, said that recognising the “transgender identity card” as a valid proof would have supported a large section of the community.

Chowdhury said, “Since the transgender card is not on the approved list, each individual must now approach the Booth Level Officer in their area to establish identity. This is troublesome, particularly for those whose families have already declared them dead. They must first prove they are alive and then prove who they are. Many also hold birth certificates, school leaving certificates, and other papers only in their previous identity. How will they now present documents that reflect their present identity? Our community is discussing the matter and plans to request the Election Commission to include the transgender card as an accepted proof.”

Debika Barua, a social media figure and transgender activist, said that the affidavit made during a change of identity would assist many in linking their present identity to their earlier one. The difficulty, she pointed out, is that some members of the community lacked the means to file such an affidavit in court and, therefore, do not have this proof.

“From what we have learnt, those who still hold old documents such as birth certificates or school leaving certificates, where their parents’ names appear, will be able to establish their identity. If their parents’ names were on the 2002 voters’ list, their citizenship will be accepted, and only an affidavit will then be required to confirm their present identity. The difficulty will arise for those who do not have such an affidavit,” Barua said.

Senior advocate at Calcutta High Court, Kaushik Gupta, told IANS that many transgender persons fear their citizenship will be questioned through the SIR exercise.

“If they do not appear in the 2002 voters’ list and their parents’ names are also missing, their right to vote may come under scrutiny. Citizens have the right to vote and also the right not to vote. The SIR cannot be used as the yardstick to establish both citizenship and identity. It places an unfair burden on the people, as several of them were thrown out of their houses by their parents years ago, and many do not even have proper documents with them. However, the saving grace is their affidavit or gazette notification, which they had done to change their identity. That document will be crucial to prove their identity," Gupta said.

An official within the Election Commission acknowledged that this remains a grey area in the SIR process and requires attention.

The official said, “A solution will certainly be found to safeguard the voting rights of eligible transgender voters. In my view, the affidavit or gazette notification made during their identity change will serve as a useful document for establishing identity.”

--IANS

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