Mumbai, July 10: A high-level delegation of the Federation of Maharashtra Muslims (FMM) today met the Chief Electoral Officer, Maharashtra and submitted a detailed memorandum on the issues faced by the public during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state and to make the electoral process more transparent, fair and people-friendly.

The delegation said that since the inception of SIR, the Federation has set up awareness campaigns and facilitation centres across the state, where volunteers are guiding citizens in the enumeration process and promoting cooperation with Booth Level Officers (BLOs). The memorandum was prepared based on public complaints and suggestions received from these centres and various districts.

The memorandum firstly termed the duration of the current registration phase as inadequate and demanded an extension of at least two months in view of the displacement due to heavy rains, agricultural sowing, reconstruction and demolition operations and other practical difficulties, as no immediate elections are expected in the state at present.

The delegation demanded that in order to reduce the burden of additional responsibilities on the booth level officers, they be temporarily exempted from non-electoral official duties, assistant BLOs be appointed wherever necessary, refresher training be given to all BLOs, their contact numbers, offices and latest information on their scope of work be made available to the public, and clear instructions be given to them to provide practical cooperation in resolving the anamnesis and other issues of the citizens.

The memorandum also emphasized that a large number of citizens are still unaware of the SIR procedure, deadlines and required documents, especially senior citizens, women, migrant workers, economically weaker sections and rural population. Therefore, a widespread multilingual awareness campaign through print, electronic and social media, strengthening of facilitation centres and establishment of mobile verification units were requested.

The delegation, while pointing out the confusion in the documentation and mapping process, demanded that comprehensive public guidelines be issued on different types of analyses and the documents required for them, that documentary requirements be eased where old records are not available, that legal changes in EPIC number and name be given due weight in mapping, that the list of acceptable documents be expanded and that uniform written instructions regarding duplicate entries be issued to all field officers.

The Federation also expressed concern that some citizens who had voted in the 2024 elections were unable to find their names or EPIC records in the current process. The delegation demanded that such voters should not be unnecessarily forced to re-enrol and that if an eligible voter’s name has been deleted by mistake, his/her name should be restored through a simple and prompt rectification process after proper verification.

The memorandum also called for issuing notices to strengthen transparency and accountability, publishing detailed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on documentation requirements and principles for deletion of names, establishing an effective, transparent and time-bound grievance redressal system, implementing a robust audit and supervisory system to monitor the data entry and verification process, and independent monitoring of the entire SIR process.

The delegation stressed that the main objective of SIR should be to include every eligible voter in the electoral process and not to deprive any citizen of his/her constitutional right to vote due to administrative, technical or procedural shortcomings. Therefore, all election officers should be directed to adopt a citizen-friendly approach.

On this occasion, along with Bhiwandi MLA Raees Sheikh, the delegation included Maulana Hafiz Iqbal Chunawala (Member of Shura, Darul Uloom Deoband Waqf), Maulana Zaheer Abbas Rizvi (Vice President, Shia Personal Law Board), Farid Sheikh (President, Aman Committee Mumbai), Shakir Sheikh and Abdul Mujeeb Sheikh.

According to the delegation, the Chief Electoral Officer, Maharashtra listened to all the points presented in the memorandum very seriously, termed these suggestions as constructive and assured that necessary steps would be taken after due consideration of all these demands keeping in mind the public interest and transparency of the electoral process.

Mumbai: Pakistani gangster and ISI agent Shahzad Bhatti has started instigating youth in India by spreading hateful agenda and religious hatred to create unrest and sabotage in the country, after which the ATS has interrogated such youths whom this gang had targeted and tried to prepare the youth for sabotage in the country.

Maharashtra ATS had conducted raids since 7 am and 58 teams have interrogated about 102 youths. The gangster used to lure the youth through false propaganda online and on social media and also gave orders to carry out the conspiracy of unrest in the country. The method of luring the youth is such that first on social media, Shahzad Bhatti and his associates Abid Jat alias Abid Chhal, Hameed Memon, Rana Haneen, Ashraf Bashir Alam targeted such youth in India, saying that they are unemployed and can easily fall prey to false propaganda. Along with this, they used to mislead the youth by sharing religious and political propaganda and misleading information on social media and after that they used to offer money to the youth by making attractive offers. After that, they would select such youth, they would fall under the trap of misleading propaganda and then form a group and he had prepared such a group of such youth but the ATS exposed him and foiled his conspiracy.

ATS appeals to parents of youth Maharashtra ATS has appealed to such parents to keep an eye on their youth and if there is any change in their use of social media, then keep an eye on it and if any suspicious activity is noticed, then inform the police and ATS. ATS has made an important appeal to the youth regarding social media, saying that they should not contact any unknown person whom they are not familiar with, along with not believing misleading propaganda and false information on social media, along with controversial and objectionable content and not keep in touch with suspicious and unknown persons on social media, Facebook and other sources. Often, youth are offered many jobs on social media and are lured with money without doing any work. Similarly, the Shahzad Bhatti gang also targets youth. It first selects youth and then involves them in illegal activities, drug smuggling, and buying and selling weapons, involves them in anti-national activities, and involves them in sleeper cells to prepare its agents. Therefore, the youth have been appealed not to fall prey to financial greed because if out of greed they do any small work that falls under the category of involvement in terrorism, their future will be dark. Do not fall prey to false propaganda on social media. It is the responsibility of ATS to ensure the establishment of patriotism and communal harmony in the country. Therefore, ATS takes action against such elements and has also intensified Operation Shahzad Bhatti.

Mumbai, July 10: A delegation of Urdu writers, led by MLA Raees Qasim Sheikh, met Maharashtra Minister for Cultural Affairs Advocate Ashish Shelar at Vidhan Bhawan on Friday and demanded the inclusion of Urdu poets in the recently announced “Kalawant” scheme of the state government.

The meeting came after a request was submitted to MLA Raees Qasim Sheikh by Urdu Karwan. The delegation included renowned poets Irfan Jafri, Obaid Azam Azmi, Dr. Qamar Siddiqui and Urdu Karwan President Farid Ahmed Khan.

The delegation told the minister that Urdu poets and writers are also an important part of the cultural and artistic tradition of Maharashtra, hence they should be included in the ambit of the “Kalawant” scheme so that they too can benefit from the financial assistance and patronage of the government. The delegation also emphasized that Urdu language has not only academic and literary but also deep cultural impact in the state of Maharashtra, and Urdu poets and writers have played a significant role in promoting the common civilization, culture and literary heritage of the state. Therefore, their services should be recognized at the official level and they should also be given the opportunity to benefit from this scheme.

Reacting positively to the delegation’s reports, Advocate Ashish Shelar assured that necessary action will be taken to include Urdu poets in the “Kalavant” scheme, so that they can also get the benefits of this scheme.

On this occasion, MLA Raees Qasim Sheikh thanked the Minister for Cultural Affairs and expressed the hope that the government will soon take a practical decision in this regard, due to which poets and writers associated with Urdu language and literature will also get government patronage and encouragement like other artists.