Language And Semantics Of SIR ?—Prof. P K Sharma

“We the people of India….” since our country’s independence have been dreaming of an Idea Of New India, Prosperous India,Innovative India and Developed India ! Dreaming is very fine and natural a process but then to translate these dreams into actuality matching proper planning,toil,sincerity of purpose, dedication and devotion are indeed the pre-requisites.More than seventy eight years of independence of the nation innovations,discoveries and rediscoveries have been the order of these more than seven decades with too many ups and downs.Mahatma Gandhi penned down”The Story of My Experiments With Truth,”Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru “The Discovery of India” and Nobel Laureate Dr.Rabindra Nath Tagore his masterpiece”Gitanjali.”

Taking no leaf out of the books of these great men’s experiments with creativity, literature, language,truth,free nation’s quest for advancement in all respects and fearless mind respectively but the question now arises is the nation at present not in for many bizarre optics, experiments and changes paving way for futile,negative,inhuman,insensitive,grim nuances and contours implying only Much Ado About Nothing.Have we not been proving unworthy followers of these greats?

In light of the noble,value based and  ethical path shown by the trio,is it not quite pertinent to comprehend the language as well as  semantics of  the ECI’s new a discovery Special Intensive Revision(SIR)in depth with its genesis in Bihar on June 24,2025 for revision of electoral rolls expanding its origin and gamut too now to nine states and three union territories. Despite too many hiccups,fits and starts the Election Commission of India(ECI) has been bent upon pushing forward its hotch potch agenda prompted by” a mastermind” not feeling shy of throwing this autonomous body’s credibility and integrity to winds with impunity.

In the first instance,SIR implies ECI  abusing its constitutional authority vested in it blatantly in a biased manner by dint of opacity, suspicion,utmost recklessness, unaccountability and  too much highhandedness.Has Model Code of Conduct any meaning or significance when voters were being bribed in Bihar by way of transferring amount of Rs.Ten Thousand in their accounts even during the polls?

Then in the second instance,for want of  objective, inclusive,broad based decision making and collective responsibility conviction do the words,”fair”,”free,” “fearless”,and “polls”mean and signify anything?The available information bears testimony to the fact that there has not been fine tuning of Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners as there has been no sign of this SIR decision taken in any formal meeting with open consensual spirit but rushed through in a huff.The consent of one of the Election Commissioners taken on WhatsApp reflects bickerings.What was then the tearing hury that it was not deemed fit to take the stakeholders,political parties and masses into confidence formally to make SIR nationally an acceptable, amiable and viable a proposition?

Since June 24 with its inception,SIR has always been under dark clouds because opposition parties, masses,voters and the civil society at large have all been raising a hue and cry over its credence and justification to do any good and favour to the populace of the nation.But  instead it created a lot of pell mell,chaos and untold hardships.Not discharging its duties diligently ECI preferred to pass  the burden of proof on to the innocent public.Does SIR mean sheer deletion and addition of voters, no no, it should have infact been winning confidence of all and sundry act ?

The SIR indeed hung as a Damocles Sword on limitless heads as this very Herculean task had to be accomplished by the ones involved in, running against time with their backs to the wall.For many Booth Level Officers in the states of Uttar Pradesh,West Bengal,Kerala so on and so forth meant horrible suicides,sudden deaths,undue pressure of seniors,FIRs, resignation,threats of denial of salary and their routine life falling a prey to sixes and sevens.

Ironically, the Apex Court too has not been able to comprehend this riddle to do natural justice to avert this allegedly conspired attack on democracy with drama,haste, confusion,uncertainty, mystery,guiles and mistrust shrouding the innocent masses all along.

Taking this move of ECI very lightly the topmost court of nation instead of swinging into action swiftly believed in unduly buying time and obfuscating things to compound doubts misgivings and ambiguity. So far it has failed to adjudicate conclusively whether this SIR

exertion is constitutional or not? Before Bihar Assembly Polls it had  assured the petitioners that it will act in time if there was something wrong with this drill but after the conclusion of polls,already new government too is in place.Quite smartly the ECI did not waste even a single moment to bring into effect SIR of rolls in nine states and three union territories. For the past more than five months the hearing still has been in progress with legal or constitutional conclusion hanging fire so far.

The untrained BLOs with their prime duties somewhere else had to grapple with precarious situation thus facing the onslaught.None cared,even the hearts of the Apex Court judges did not move at all in wake of a large number of BLOs facing the music for no fault of their own.No court in the law of land in India dared to take suo moto notice of these BLOs suicides, sudden deaths,FIRs being registered against them owing to the pressures,panic and peril looming large over their heads.

Trinmool Congress General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee took jibs at SIR very interestingly with a pun upon the word SIR when he remarked in his tweet countering ECI’s tall claims of flatly whitewashing ten TMC MPs delegation’s complaints and grievances about SIR in its meeting with the ECI on request in this style “And let me add this clearly SIR:A few hours will always be too short, take as many days as you want to answer the five basic questions we placed before you” outwitting ECI saying,”We have enough digital evidence to prove how your narrative is being distorted through planted,fabricated leaks.”

Now in light of mounting all round pressure on the ECI’s hanky panky and unrealistic handling of SIR in nine states and three union territories it had to extend its deadline of December 4 by one week. Damini Nath’s investigative revelation of EC Sukhbir Singh Sandhu’s note has brought to  the fore the element of lack of  desired coordination and coherence in  the decisions taken adding fuel to the fire.One fails to understand why the ECI is imposing very short one month SIR time frame even in those states where polls are due in the year 2027,where its smooth and hassle free culmination can be ensured.

No denying the fact that ECI has become a butt of criticism and disgrace,guilty of functioning with a remote control not at all autonomously.Hence,ECI’s plight now is akin obviously to a bad man quarrelling with his tools.Is it not ?

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                  Contributed by :

Prof PK Sharma Freelance Journalist

Associate Professor of English (Retired),

Pom Anm Nest,BARNALA(Punjab)

e-mail : [email protected]

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