Massive Anti-EVM Protest And A Viral Speech (image-screen grab/twitter/AshishSinghkiji)
Thousands belonging to civil society groups including the Ambedkarites gathered at Jantar Mantar, Delhi on February 2 demanding a ban on Electronic Voting Machines (EVM).
The protestors argued that the EVM being vulnerable to hacking, pose a threat to the fair conduct of elections, thus the use of EVMs jeopardises the democratic process. Several such protests are being held in different parts of the country.
Concerned about the issue, an #EVM_ban campaign is yet to be launched ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha election in April-May, lending urgency to look into the matter.
Several demonstrators have highlighted that the Election Commission had challenged anyone to prove the EVMs could be hacked and thus, the ‘Samyukt EVM Hatao Desh Bachao Morcha’ led by Supreme Court lawyers came forward by accepting the challenge, but the Election Commission was not ready to acknowledge the challenge. The activists were also denied to submit a memorandum to the EC office.
One of the protestors said, “A big agitation is going on across the country to remove EVMs. The public wants to remove EVMs. We will remove EVMs from this country… We have been taking up this issue for a very long time, and now, with the general elections 2024 just around the corner, we have started this campaign to bring this issue to attention afresh,” reports the National Herald.
The protestors in Jantar Mandir have urged the EC to provide 50 EVMs to test, asserting that they could demonstrate how the machines are being manipulated. The activists in the protest highlighted that their objective is to showcase the vulnerabilities of EVMs and advocate for a shift back to traditional paper ballots.
A similar protest against EVM was held in Kanpur. A group of lawyers gathered in the court premises, holding banners and placards. They symbolically burned an effigy of an EVM and demanded the withdrawal of EVM usage in elections.
In November 2023, the Supreme Court made observations amplifying the scale of cross-checking EVM data with the vote-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) records may not offer significant advantages and would only burden the Election Commission with additional work.
A viral speech
A speech delivered by Dr Ritu Singh, psychologist, social activist and an Ambedkarite, at the meeting is viral now on social media. “We are not the children of those who say sorry, but we are the descendants of Ambedkar, Savitribhai Phule, Periyaar and Sahoo,” Dr Ritu is saying in her speech.
Common Public Protest against #BJPGovt & #ElectionCommission in #Delhi on issue of #EVM_Ban !
But No Media showing Prime Times ! It”s sad…#BanEVM #BanEVM_SaveIndia #BanEVM_SaveDemocracy #EVM_हटाओ_लोकतंत्र_बचाओ pic.twitter.com/lUr9yUMEwW
— Hate Detector 🔍 (@HateDetectors) February 4, 2024
