Orphaned twice: SIR strips Kolkata’s Kerala-born man of vote, identity | India News
KOLKATA: Born at a loss in Kerala, brought up with no memory of parents and finding a home after decades of drifting, 50-year-old Benjamin – “Benji” in Kolkata’s Beleghata – says the state has orphaned him again. The EC’s SIR canceled his name in the voter list, stripping him of his only formal identity link as a voter. In an effort to clear the rolls, the practice has left the fringe cases stuck between its identity and evidence, where the resident family does not meet the documentary thresholds. An orphan since childhood, Benji lost his mother at birth and his father soon after. After staying in an orphanage in Kerala, he ran away, joined a circus troupe and was brought to Calcutta as a shop assistant at the age of 21. A few months later, she was taken in by Jayant Baral, who ran a fast food stall. Since 1999, Benji has been living with the Baral family, calling octogenarian Padmarani Baral his mother. The arrangement gave him stability — and eventually, citizenship on paper. After years of persuasion, he applied for a voter ID ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and voted. He also has a ration card. That fragile recognition crumbled during SIR. In his enumeration form, Benjy again named Padmarani as a guardian. This time also the officials did not accept the relationship. With no record of a biological parent – whose name he could not remember – his case was adjourned to hearing and his name was expunged. “For the first time in my solitary life, I felt important during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections,” he said. “After that, losing the right hurts more. Around the stall where he has worked for decades, regulars say the paper’s presence has become trivial. Benzie is now looking for a way to get back on the rolls — through paperwork, affidavits and appeals — trying to prove he exists.
