Kolhapur Panchayat Passes Resolution Barring Registration Of New Muslim Voters (image-twitter/ECISVEEP)
In Kolhapur district of Maharashtra, a gram panchayat on September 5 passed a resolution barring registration of ‘new Muslim voters’ in electoral rolls. As per the copy of the resolution received by The Quint, it mentioned that if new electoral rolls have names of Muslims who have ‘recently arrived’ in the village, panchayat authorities should take cognizance and get those names removed from the list.
In Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar, a resolution was passed unanimously by a village Shingnapur on 5 Sept barring the registration of new Muslim voters in the electoral rolls. If any news Muslim voters will be registered, it will be removed. pic.twitter.com/vVcILDHcCk
— Waquar Hasan (@WaqarHasan1231) September 15, 2024
The copy of the resolution is being widely shared on social media. The Chief of the Muslim Education Society in Kolhapur said that the resolution passed by the panchayat is unconstitutional and discriminatory. While speaking to The Quint, he said, “This resolution is aimed at a social boycott of the Muslim community and is discriminatory in nature”.
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As per The Quint report, the Muslim Education Society on Sunday approached the District Magistrate (DM) and submitted a complaint against the resolution. “The resolution is against India’s constitution which grants voting rights to all citizens. A criminal case should be filed against the Sarpanch, panchayat members and Village Development Officers who decided to take away the right to vote on the basis of religion. The panchayat should be suspended,” they demanded in the complaint.
Following the right activists’ approach to the DM, Shingnapur Sarpanch Rasika Patil issued a video clarifying that some people are trying to misrepresent the resolution to ‘disrupt’ communal harmony in the district.
“(A few weeks ago) two Muslim Bangladeshi women came to the village. They were using Aadhar cards and living as Indian citizens. At the gram sabha meeting, there was a discussion on this and it was decided that action should be taken against these women. But that letter (demanding action) is being presented in a wrong way to harm social harmony. This needs to be looked into. As the popularly elected Sarpanch of Shingnapur, I express regret at how the letter has been misrepresented and made to go viral,” Patil said in the video.
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Later, Gram Panchayat too issued a letter apologizing to the Muslim community and giving an assurance that “no such action would be taken by the Panchayat”.
There have been reports of several other controversies in the village. Earlier in August, a resolution was passed by the same gram panchayat calling for the prohibition of allotment of village common land for “religious functions”.
