Bihar election: Concerns mount over Rohingya infiltration in voter list amid spike in residence certificate applications

Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltration in Seemanchal remains a pressing issue

With voter list revision on the go in Bihar ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls, some alarming statistics from Seemanchal have come to the fore -- unsettling the political as well as security circles. According to documents accessed by News18, more than 2 lakh people applied for permanent residence certificates in Kishanganj district alone in merely the first week of July.

Meanwhile, Muzaffarpur district has received around 1 lakh applications for the same certificates.

The numbers have once again raised concerns over Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltration in Seemanchal, an area of Bihar that borders Nepal. In conversation with News18, Bihar deputy chief minister Samrat Chaudhary said, “The presence of Bangladeshi and Rohingya intruders in Seemanchal is not a new thing. These individuals are attempting to obtain permanent certificates through fraudulent documents to be included in the voter list.”

He called upon the need for both central and state governments to scrutinise such applications minutely and added that the government would not allow any intruder to take Bihar’s citizenship.

This comes as the Election Commission (EC) last month issued instructions to carry out a special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar – in an attempt to weed out ineligible names and ensure only eligible citizens are included in the electoral roll. The last such revision in the state was conducted over two decades ago.

According to the EC, the exercise was necessitated by rapid urbanisation, frequent migration, young citizens becoming eligible to vote, non-reporting of deaths, and inclusion of the names of foreign illegal immigrants.

Infiltration on Seemanchal-Nepal border an old issue

Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltration in Seemanchal remains a pressing issue. In 2019, the Home Ministry estimated around 10 lakh illegal immigrants in Bihar, primarily settled in this region. The recent arrest of Bangladeshi citizen Syed Iqbal, who was trying to illegally enter India through Raxaul integrated checkpost (ICP) on India-Nepal border, has once again underscored the challenge.

Intelligence agencies have warned that Rohingyas and Bangladeshis are entering Bihar via Nepal, with the aim of being included in the voter list using fake Adhaar cards and residence certificates, according to News18.

According to an Indian Express report, domicile or residential certificates have emerged as the most demanded document amid the EC’s special intensive revision drive. The report adds that the domicile certificates are being issued on the basis of an applicant’s Aadhaar card, which itself does not figure in the list of 11 documents EC has specified to prove date of birth or residence as part of the SIR.

From the period between June 28 to July 6, 13,08,684 domicile applications had been received at Right to Public Service Centres located in each block – with applications pouring in at the rate of 70,000 per day, the report added.

Who said what on SIR?

On the revision of the electoral roll in Bihar, BJP MP Manan Kumar Mishra said, "This is a special drive, a special intensive revision by the Election Commission. The last revision of the voter list in Bihar was carried out in 2003. This is a healthy tradition and should be carried out regularly; otherwise, we cannot hope for a fair and transparent election. There has been a huge demographic change in Bihar, and things will become clear after the revision of the list."

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, meanwhile, said, “People in the flood-prone Seemanchal region are among the poorest; they can barely afford two meals a day. To expect them to possess their parents’ documents is a cruel joke. The result of this exercise will be that a large number of Bihar’s poor will be removed from the electoral roll. Being enrolled in the electoral roll is a constitutional right of every Indian.”

The Opposition INDIA bloc has also called for Bihar bandh to oppose the electoral revision work.