Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Illogical reasons: on The Hindu’s investigation of Delhi’s draft rolls

Illogical reasons: on The Hindu’s investigation of Delhi’s draft rolls

Delhi’s “logical discrepancy (तार्किक असंगति)” flags suggest a design that targets Muslims

That the ECI’s SIR of electoral rolls (मतदाता सूची, निर्वाचक नामावली) has been flawed (दोषपूर्ण, त्रुटिपूर्ण) by design (a plan or underlying purpose, often with a hidden or deliberate intention; plan, strategy, scheme, blueprint) and tuned (to adjust or adapt something to serve a specific purpose; adjust, adapt, tailor, align) to exclude genuine (वास्तविक, असली) electors rather than (के बजाय, की जगह) ensure their full enrolment (पंजीकरण, नामांकन) is now well established (अच्छी तरह से स्थापित). The Hindu’s investigation (जाँच, छानबीन) of Delhi’s draft (प्रारूप, मसौदा) rolls and the names that the ECI flagged as “logical discrepancies” shows that the process is not only exclusionary (बहिष्करणकारी) but also insidious (proceeding in a gradual, subtle way, but with harmful effects; stealthy, subtle, deceitful, treacherous). The arbitrary (based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system; random, capricious, erratic, subjective) nature of these “discrepancies”, especially those relating to family size, suggests (सुझाव देना, इंगित करना) that they were chosen to target communities with higher, though (यद्यपि) declining (decreasing, shrinking, dwindling, fading), fertility rates (the average number of children born to a woman during her reproductive years; birth rate, reproduction rate, reproductive rate, natality rate), for exclusion (rejection, omission, elimination, barring). Muslims make up (constitute, form, comprise, compose) 13.6% of Delhi’s draft rolls (a preliminary version of the electoral register that is subject to modification or correction; preliminary register, initial list, provisional roll, unfinalized list) — in line with (in agreement or accordance with something; in accordance with, in agreement with, consistent with, adhering to) the 2011 Census (the 15th Census of India since 1872 and the 7th since independence, conducted by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, to collect comprehensive demographic, population, housing, and socio-economic data on the country’s population) — but accounted for (constitute, comprise, make up, represent) 20.3% of those flagged (highlight, mark, identify, single out, draw attention to) for “logical discrepancies”. This number goes up (increase, rise, escalate, soar) to 30% for those flagged under the five reasons linked to family size. None of these criteria bears on the eligibility of an elector, who should be an Indian citizen, at least 18, ordinarily resident (a legal term referring to a person who habitually lives in a specific constituency for a continuous period; habitual resident, normal resident, regular inhabitant, customary resident) in the constituency and should not be disqualified under (classified, recorded, or considered within a particular category, heading, rule, or criterion; within, according to, subject to, as part of) the law. Following (coming after or as a result of something; subsequent to, after, in the wake of, resulting from) Lal Babu Hussein (1995), a name on an earlier (previous, preceding, prior, past) electoral roll has probative value (evidential value, proof value, significance, weight of evidence) as evidence of citizenship and cannot be struck off without inquiry (an official investigation to find out the truth or facts; investigation, probe, examination, scrutiny). The children an elector has, a parent’s age at the elector’s birth or name spelling are unconnected; (unrelated, independent, separate, detached) neither the ECI’s Manual on Electoral Rolls (2023) (an official comprehensive guidance document published by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in March 2023, setting out the legal provisions, procedures, guidelines, and administrative responsibilities governing the preparation, revision, correction, and maintenance of electoral rolls in India) nor its SIR of 2002-03 (the previous major Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls conducted by the Election Commission of India over two decades ago to update and verify the voter database) provided (to stipulate, specify, or make available a condition in a rule or law; stipulate, specify, lay down, prescribe) for such checks (verification, inspection, scrutiny, examination).

When the ECI began the SIR in Bihar, the enrolment and claims and objections phases had their infirmities (weakness, flaw, defect, shortcoming) but there was no direct or indirect (implicit, secondary, incidental, underlying) discrimination (the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people; prejudice, bias, bigotry, unfairness) by religion. The Hindu estimated (calculate, gauge, assess, evaluate) that 18.4% of those deleted from Bihar’s pre-SIR rolls (the existing voter list as it stood before the Election Commission initiated the Special Intensive Revision process; previous voter list) were Muslims, in line with their population share (17.7%, 2011 Census). But in the SIR’s Phase 2 in West Bengal, the ECI introduced the “logical discrepancies” check midway (at or in the middle of a process or period; halfway, exactly in the middle, mid-point, centrally). Electors already on draft rolls were flagged on unexplained (unaccounted for, mysterious, unresolved, baffling) criteria with ECINET (a unified digital platform developed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to integrate election-related applications and services, enabling citizens, candidates, political parties, and election officials to access voter registration, electoral roll searches, application tracking, election information, grievance redressal, and other electoral services through a single interface) software rather than the statutory (required, permitted, or enacted by law; legal, lawful, legislative, constitutional) Electoral Registration Officers (A statutory officer appointed under the Representation of the People Act, 1950, responsible for the preparation and revision of electoral rolls in a specific constituency) deciding on who got flagged. The impact (a marked effect or influence; effect, consequence, repercussion, ramification) was severe (very great, intense, or harsh; harsh, grave, acute, drastic) — 27 lakh electors were deleted following adjudication (judgment, decision, ruling, verdict) by judicial officers (a person legally empowered to preside over a court or adjudicatory proceeding; judge, magistrate, justice, adjudicator), after being flagged overwhelmingly (to a very great degree or with a great majority; predominantly, largely, primarily, extensively) for “logical discrepancies”; 22 lakh appealed (to apply to a higher authority for a reversal of the decision of a lower authority; challenge, contest, petition, question) but just 1,607 electors were reinstated (restore, put back, return, reestablish) in time (promptly, punctually, early enough, on schedule) for the vote. By September, nearly 93% of the 1.26 lakh appeals that were decided had restored electors to the rolls — an indication of large-scale (extensive, massive, widespread, sweeping) disenfranchisement (the state of being deprived of a right or privilege, especially the right to vote; deprivation of voting rights, disfranchisement, voting disqualification, voting exclusion) before the vote. A sample-based analysis (an examination or evaluation conducted by selecting a representative segment of a larger population to infer trends; statistical evaluation, sampling study, representative analysis, proportional study) of those excluded after adjudication estimated a much higher share of Muslims than their population share. The same process has now been carried over (to continue or extend an existing process, practice, or procedure into a subsequent phase or stage; transfer, extend, continue, carry forward) to Phase 3, including Delhi, where The Hindu’s investigation shows a clear skew (a bias or deviation from the expected normal or symmetrical form; bias, distortion, disproportion, imbalance) against Muslim electors. The Supreme Court must now halt (to bring to an abrupt stop; stop, cease, terminate, suspend) the SIR, as a process built on arbitrary criteria with no basis (foundation, rationale, ground, premise) in electoral law, and which discriminates (to make an unjust or prejudicial distinction in the treatment of different categories of people; show prejudice, treat unfairly, victimize, single out) against specific (distinct, particular, explicit, definite) communities, should not be allowed to firm up (to make something more certain, secure, or stable; solidify, finalize, secure, consolidate) electoral rolls.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.illogical (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - अतार्किक, तर्कहीन
English Meaning - unreasonable, irrational, unfounded, flawed.

2.logical discrepancy (noun)

Hindi Meaning - तार्किक असंगति
English Meaning - an inconsistency or mismatch in facts or data that contradicts expected reasoning; inconsistency, irregularity, anomaly, mismatch.

3.Election Commission of India (ECI) (noun)

Hindi Meaning - भारत का चुनाव आयोग
English Meaning - A permanent, autonomous constitutional body established on 25 January 1950 under Article 324 of the Constitution to administer and ensure free and fair elections to the Parliament, State Legislatures, and the offices of the President and Vice-President.

4.Special Intensive Revision (SIR) (noun)

Hindi Meaning - विशेष गहन पुनरीक्षण
English Meaning - an official process undertaken by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to comprehensively update and revise electoral rolls, specifically targeting the inclusion of newly eligible voters, removal of ineligible names, and correction of existing details before elections.

5.electoral roll (noun)

Hindi Meaning - मतदाता सूची, निर्वाचक नामावली
English Meaning - voter list, voting register, electoral register, voter roll.

6.flawed (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - दोषपूर्ण, त्रुटिपूर्ण
English Meaning - having mistakes; defective, faulty, imperfect, erroneous.

7.genuine (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - वास्तविक, असली
English Meaning - authentic, real, legitimate, veritable.

8.rather than (phrase)

Hindi Meaning - के बजाय, की जगह
English Meaning - instead of, as opposed to, in place of, over.

9.enrolment (noun)

Hindi Meaning - पंजीकरण, नामांकन
English Meaning - the process of officially registering or joining a list; registration, induction, admission, enlistment.

10.well established (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - अच्छी तरह से स्थापित
English Meaning - widely recognized, accepted, or firmly rooted over time; firmly set, entrenched, proven, deep-rooted.

11.investigation (noun)

Hindi Meaning - जाँच, छानबीन
English Meaning - a formal inquiry or systematic examination to uncover facts; inquiry, probe, scrutiny, examination.

12.draft (noun)

Hindi Meaning - प्रारूप, मसौदा
English Meaning - a preliminary version of a document, such as an electoral roll, before it is finalized; preliminary version, rough outline, unfinalized list, blueprint.

13.exclusionary (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - बहिष्करणकारी
English Meaning - designed or tending to leave people out or restrict them from participating; restrictive, prohibitive, discriminatory, isolating.

14.though (conjunction)

Hindi Meaning - यद्यपि
English Meaning - despite the fact that; although, even if, notwithstanding, whereas.

15.suggest (verb)

Hindi Meaning - सुझाव देना, इंगित करना
English Meaning - indicate, imply, signal, point to.

16.logical discrepancy (noun)

English Meaning - an apparent inconsistency or mismatch in an elector’s records identified during the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, potentially requiring further verification; data inconsistency, record mismatch, apparent anomaly.

17.flag (noun)

English Meaning - indicator, marker, signal, warning, alert, warning sign.

18.design (noun)

English Meaning - a plan or underlying purpose, often with a hidden or deliberate intention; plan, strategy, scheme, blueprint.

19.by design (phrase)

English Meaning - done deliberately or according to a plan, rather than by accident; intentionally, deliberately, purposely, consciously.

20.tune (verb)

English Meaning - to adjust or adapt something to serve a specific purpose; adjust, adapt, tailor, align.

21.draft (adjective)

English Meaning - denoting a preliminary version of a document or plan; preliminary, provisional, unfinalized, rough.

22.draft roll (noun)

English Meaning - a preliminary version of the electoral register that is subject to modification or correction; preliminary register, initial list, provisional roll, unfinalized list.

23.flag (verb)

English Meaning - highlight, mark, identify, single out, draw attention to.

24.arbitrary (adjective)

English Meaning - based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system; random, capricious, erratic, subjective.

25.discrepancy (noun)

English Meaning - inconsistency, variance, disparity, mismatch.

26.insidious (adjective)

English Meaning - proceeding in a gradual, subtle way, but with harmful effects; stealthy, subtle, deceitful, treacherous.

27.declining (adjective)

English Meaning - decreasing, shrinking, dwindling, fading.

28.fertility rate (noun)

English Meaning - the average number of children born to a woman during her reproductive years; birth rate, reproduction rate, reproductive rate, natality rate.

29.exclusion (noun)

English Meaning - rejection, omission, elimination, barring.

30.make up (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - constitute, form, comprise, compose.

31.in line with (phrase)

English Meaning - in agreement or accordance with something; in accordance with, in agreement with, consistent with, adhering to.

32.2011 Census (noun)

English Meaning - the 15th Census of India since 1872 and the 7th since independence, conducted by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, to collect comprehensive demographic, population, housing, and socio-economic data on the country’s population.

33.census (noun)

English Meaning - an official count or survey of a population recording various demographic details; population count, demographic survey, enumeration, headcount.

34.account for (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - constitute, comprise, make up, represent.

35.go up (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - increase, rise, escalate, soar.

36.flag under (phrase)

English Meaning - to mark or record something under a specified category, reason, or criterion for identification or further review; classify under, categorise under, record under, list under.

37.under (preposition)

English Meaning - classified, recorded, or considered within a particular category, heading, rule, or criterion; within, according to, subject to, as part of.

38.criterion (noun)

English Meaning - standard, measure, benchmark, yardstick.

39.bear on (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - to be relevant to or have an influence on a matter; relate to, affect, influence, pertain to.

40.ordinarily resident (phrase)

English Meaning - a legal term referring to a person who habitually lives in a specific constituency for a continuous period; habitual resident, normal resident, regular inhabitant, customary resident.

41.ordinarily resident (phrase)

English Meaning - living in a place as one’s usual place of residence, rather than staying there temporarily or casually. For electoral registration in India, it refers to the constituency where a person normally resides, as assessed by the Electoral Registration Officer based on the facts of the case under Sections 19 and 20 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950; usual resident, habitual resident, normally residing.

42.constituency (noun)

English Meaning - a legally defined geographical area from which voters elect a representative to a legislative body, such as a Parliamentary Constituency for the Lok Sabha or an Assembly Constituency for a State Legislative Assembly; electoral district, electoral area.

43.disqualify (verb)

English Meaning - bar, ban, preclude, exclude.

44.under the law (phrase)

English Meaning - in accordance with the rules or statutes established by an authority; legally, lawfully, constitutionally, statutorily.

45.following (preposition)

English Meaning - coming after or as a result of something; subsequent to, after, in the wake of, resulting from.

46.Lal Babu Hussein v. Electoral Registration Officer (1995) (noun)

English Meaning - a landmark Supreme Court of India judgment holding that an existing entry in the electoral roll carries a rebuttable presumption of validity and that, before deleting a person’s name on grounds of suspected ineligibility, the authorities must disclose the basis for the suspicion and provide a reasonable opportunity to be heard, in accordance with the principles of natural justice.

47.earlier (adjective)

English Meaning - previous, preceding, prior, past.

48.probative value (noun)

English Meaning - evidential value, proof value, significance, weight of evidence.

49.strike off (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - to officially remove someone’s name from a document or register; remove, delete, erase, eliminate.

50.inquiry (noun)

English Meaning - an official investigation to find out the truth or facts; investigation, probe, examination, scrutiny.

51.unconnected (adjective)

English Meaning - unrelated, independent, separate, detached.

52.ECI’s Manual on Electoral Rolls (2023) (noun)

English Meaning - an official comprehensive guidance document published by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in March 2023, setting out the legal provisions, procedures, guidelines, and administrative responsibilities governing the preparation, revision, correction, and maintenance of electoral rolls in India.

53.SIR of 2002-03 (noun)

English Meaning - the previous major Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls conducted by the Election Commission of India over two decades ago to update and verify the voter database.

54.provide (verb)

English Meaning - to stipulate, specify, or make available a condition in a rule or law; stipulate, specify, lay down, prescribe.

55.check (noun)

English Meaning - verification, inspection, scrutiny, examination.

56.Claims and Objections Period (noun)

English Meaning - the prescribed period during the revision of electoral rolls in which eligible citizens may apply for inclusion of their names, object to proposed inclusions, seek deletion of existing entries, or request corrections and other permitted changes, using the relevant forms prescribed by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

57.infirmity (noun)

English Meaning - weakness, flaw, defect, shortcoming.

58.indirect (adjective)

English Meaning - implicit, secondary, incidental, underlying.

59.discrimination (noun)

English Meaning - the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people; prejudice, bias, bigotry, unfairness.

60.estimate (verb)

English Meaning - calculate, gauge, assess, evaluate.

61.pre-SIR roll (noun)

English Meaning - the existing voter list as it stood before the Election Commission initiated the Special Intensive Revision process; previous voter list.

62.midway (adverb)

English Meaning - at or in the middle of a process or period; halfway, exactly in the middle, mid-point, centrally.

63.unexplained (adjective)

English Meaning - unaccounted for, mysterious, unresolved, baffling.

64.ECINET (noun)

English Meaning - a unified digital platform developed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to integrate election-related applications and services, enabling citizens, candidates, political parties, and election officials to access voter registration, electoral roll searches, application tracking, election information, grievance redressal, and other electoral services through a single interface.

65.statutory (adjective)

English Meaning - required, permitted, or enacted by law; legal, lawful, legislative, constitutional.

66.Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) (noun)

English Meaning - A statutory officer appointed under the Representation of the People Act, 1950, responsible for the preparation and revision of electoral rolls in a specific constituency.

67.decide on (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - to make a final choice or judgment about something after consideration; choose, resolve, determine, settle.

68.impact (noun)

English Meaning - a marked effect or influence; effect, consequence, repercussion, ramification.

69.severe (adjective)

English Meaning - very great, intense, or harsh; harsh, grave, acute, drastic.

70.adjudication (noun)

English Meaning - judgment, decision, ruling, verdict.

71.judicial officer (noun)

English Meaning - a person legally empowered to preside over a court or adjudicatory proceeding; judge, magistrate, justice, adjudicator.

72.overwhelmingly (adverb)

English Meaning - to a very great degree or with a great majority; predominantly, largely, primarily, extensively.

73.appeal (verb)

English Meaning - to apply to a higher authority for a reversal of the decision of a lower authority; challenge, contest, petition, question.

74.reinstate (verb)

English Meaning - restore, put back, return, reestablish.

75.in time (phrase)

English Meaning - promptly, punctually, early enough, on schedule.

76.large-scale (adjective)

English Meaning - extensive, massive, widespread, sweeping.

77.disenfranchisement (noun)

English Meaning - the state of being deprived of a right or privilege, especially the right to vote; deprivation of voting rights, disfranchisement, voting disqualification, voting exclusion.

78.sample-based analysis (noun)

English Meaning - an examination or evaluation conducted by selecting a representative segment of a larger population to infer trends; statistical evaluation, sampling study, representative analysis, proportional study.

79.carry over (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - to continue or extend an existing process, practice, or procedure into a subsequent phase or stage; transfer, extend, continue, carry forward.

80.skew (noun)

English Meaning - a bias or deviation from the expected normal or symmetrical form; bias, distortion, disproportion, imbalance.

81.halt (verb)

English Meaning - to bring to an abrupt stop; stop, cease, terminate, suspend.

82.build on (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - base on, found on, ground on, establish on.

83.basis (noun)

English Meaning - foundation, rationale, ground, premise.

84.discriminate (verb)

English Meaning - to make an unjust or prejudicial distinction in the treatment of different categories of people; show prejudice, treat unfairly, victimize, single out.

85.specific (adjective)

English Meaning - distinct, particular, explicit, definite.

86.firm up (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - to make something more certain, secure, or stable; solidify, finalize, secure, consolidate.