Family claims migrant worker from Bengal died in Tamil Nadu due to fear of SIR
Kolkata: The family of a migrant worker from West Bengal on Sunday claimed that the worker fell ill and died while working in Tamil Nadu after hearing about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bengal’s voter list by the Election Commission.
The body of the migrant worker who died on Thursday reached his village home in Jamalpur of East Burdwan district on Saturday evening.
At the instruction of Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha leader Abhishek Banerjee, party leaders reached out to the family and extended their solidarity.
The deceased has been identified as Bimal Santra (51), a resident of Nabagram in the Jamalpur area.
The family said that the deceased had gone to Tamil Nadu for work. He fell ill on October 26 and was admitted to the hospital there. He died on Thursday while undergoing treatment. After receiving the news of his father’s death, his son Bapi Santra went to Tamil Nadu. He has also filed a case of unnatural death at the Orathanadu police station in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu.
Bapi Santra claimed that his father had gone to Tamil Nadu for work a few days ago and was worried after hearing that the SIR would be conducted in West Bengal.
Speaking to a section of media persons, he said, “My father was worried about whether his name would be in the voter list if the SIR was implemented. He used to say that repeatedly. My father fell ill due to that fear. He died after that.” The autopsy of Bimal’s body was done on Friday.
After the body arrived in his village on Saturday evening, a shadow of grief prevailed in the area.
Upon receiving the news, Jamalpur Trinamool Congress MLA Alok Kumar Majhi and other Trinamool leaders went to Bimal’s house. The MLA claimed that MGNREGA work in the state has been suspended for almost two and a half years by the Centre. That is why many people are going to other states to earn their livelihoods. The TMC leader also claimed that the migrant worker was worried after hearing about SIR.
According to Trinamool sources, at the instructions of Abhishek Banerjee, district president Rabindranath Chatterjee and state minister Swapan Debnath visited the village as well. They met Bimal’s family and expressed their condolences. Swapan Debnath said, “Another suicide has occurred due to the fear of SIR. The Election Commission is responsible for this.”
It may be noted that the Trinamool Congress has been highlighting alleged incidents of suicides in West Bengal in fear of the SIR and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The party has alleged that ever since the SIR was announced, people have been living in panic, fearing their names would be removed from the West Bengal voter list.
A few days ago, Pradeep Kar, a resident of Panihati in North 24 Parganas district, committed suicide allegedly in fear of SIR. The police claimed that they recovered a ‘suicide note’ which said the same thing.
Meanwhile, Khairul Sheikh, a resident of Dinhata in Cooch Behar district, tried to commit suicide by consuming poison, allegedly in fear over the same issue.
It was also alleged that an old man in Ilambazar of Birbhum district committed suicide due to fear of SIR.
However, in the death of the migrant worker, the local BJP claimed that it is unlikely that the worker died in fear of SIR.
BJP’s Jamalpur-1 Mandal President, Pradhan Chandra Pal, said, “Any death is sad. Bimal did not die because of SIR. He died for other reasons. Trinamool, having lost its footing in the village, is saying the opposite and holding SIR as a reason for his death.”
