Hindi English Translation || Editorial || ​Letter against the spirit: On the Election Commission, barring foreigners

​Letter against the spirit: On the Election Commission, barring foreigners

The Election Commission of India’s mandate (आदेश, अधिकृत निर्देश) is to ensure no Indian is disenfranchised (मताधिकार से वंचित करना)

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has told the Supreme Court of India that it has a constitutional duty to ensure that only citizens are enrolled as voters, and that no foreigner makes it to the electoral rolls. Even a single foreigner cannot be allowed to exist on the voter list, the ECI argued before the Court on January 6. The ECI is defending its ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which has struck off (To remove someone's name from a professional register (like doctors or lawyers) so they can no longer practice) millions of names of voters. The concerns raised by all Opposition parties, legal scholars and civil society relate to the evident burden and harassment (उत्पीड़न) being caused to ordinary citizens of the republic in having to prove their existence and identity. Nobody has argued for the inclusion of any foreigner, or for keeping electoral rolls as they are today — faulty and impossible to navigate. At the heart of this debate is the relation between the ECI’s claims and the process. Over many decades, the ECI has consistently grown its institutional integrity — despite occasional slippages — by expanding the franchise (मताधिकार, विशेषाधिकार) not merely as a formality but also as a substantive right. The maxim that no amount of escaped criminals justifies the punishment of a single innocent person has resonance (प्रतिध्वनि) in this context. In a leap into the phantom world of foreigners taking over the country, the real challenges to the integrity (ईमानदारी, नैतिक दृढ़ता) of India’s electoral process are being overlooked. Or, maybe, the foreigner paranoia (भ्रमपूर्ण संदेह) is being whipped up as a facade for polarisation.

That Article 324 of the Constitution grants the ECI independent “control over the preparation of electoral rolls” is not contested. The concern is that the ECI is not acting independently and in a manner that boosts confidence in the electoral process. The litmus test of an electoral process — very much like a judicial process — is whether the side that loses still trusts the process. Unfortunately for India, the current ECI has its priorities turned on their head when it frames its constitutional duty as the removal of foreigners, and not the enrolment of every Indian citizen. While several authorities have a duty to look for foreigners, only the ECI has the duty to enrol Indian citizens as voters. Through changes in rules and their partisan (पक्षपाती) application, the ECI has undermined its own stature and the sacred duty assigned to it by the Constitution in the recent past. Now, by unleashing (मुक्त करना) avoidable suffering and inconvenience (असुविधा, कष्ट, परेशानी) upon Indian citizens under the garb of chasing the last foreigner, it is misreading the letter and ignoring the spirit of its constitutional duty.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.Disenfranchise (Verb)

Hindi Meaning – मताधिकार से वंचित करना
English Meaning – To deprive someone of a right or privilege, especially the right to vote.

2.Mandate (Noun)

Hindi Meaning – आदेश, अधिकृत निर्देश
English Meaning – An official order or commission to do something; the authority to carry out a policy.

3.Harassment (Noun)

Hindi Meaning – उत्पीड़न
English Meaning – Aggressive pressure or intimidation; unwanted behavior that causes distress.

4.Integrity (Noun)

Hindi Meaning – ईमानदारी, नैतिक दृढ़ता
English Meaning – The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; the state of being whole.

5.Franchise (Noun)

Hindi Meaning – मताधिकार, विशेषाधिकार
English Meaning – The right to vote; an authorization granted by a company to an individual to sell its goods.

6.Resonance (Noun)

Hindi Meaning – प्रतिध्वनि
English Meaning – The quality in a sound of being deep, full, and reverberating; the ability to evoke emotions or memories.

7.Paranoia (Noun)

Hindi Meaning – भ्रमपूर्ण संदेह
English Meaning – Unjustified suspicion and mistrust of other people.

8.Unleash (Verb)

Hindi Meaning – मुक्त करना
English Meaning – To release from a leash or restraint; to cause a powerful force to be released.

9.Partisan (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning – पक्षपाती
English Meaning – Strongly supporting one particular party, cause, or person.

10.Inconvenience (Noun)

Hindi Meaning – असुविधा, कष्ट, परेशानी
English Meaning – Trouble or difficulty caused to one's personal comfort or plans.

11.Struck off (Phrasal Verb)

English Meaning – To remove someone's name from a professional register (like doctors or lawyers) so they can no longer practice.

12.Substantative (Adjective)

English Meaning – Having a firm basis in reality and therefore important, meaningful, or considerable.