Protesters stage protest against SIR, term it illegal

Mysuru: Representatives of various people's organisations, including PUCL, APCR and Samata, on Wednesday staged a protest at Town Hall in the city, alleging that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls was illegal and arbitrary.The revision has led to the mass deletion of voter names from the rolls and struck at the foundation of democratic participation, the protesters alleged.The protest was held under the banner My Vote, My Right, a coalition of civil society organisations and citizens concerned, as part of a statewide initiative. The protesters demanded that the state govt take a strong stand against the SIR and suspend its rollout in Karnataka at least until the Supreme Court delivers its decision in the pending cases challenging the exercise. They also urged the Supreme Court to intervene and ensure that those whose names were arbitrarily deleted are restored to the voter rolls.Activists Kamal Gopinath, MF Kaleem, E Rati Rao, Maj Gen Vombatkere, Fayyaz Malick, Latha K Biddappa, Ugra Narasimhegowda, Savitha P Mallesh, Susheela and Mansoor Ahmed were present.