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A gram panchayat in Maharashtra's Kolhapur district, on 5 September, passed a resolution barring registration of 'new Muslim voters' in electoral rolls. The resolution, a copy of which was seen by The Quint, also mentioned that if new electoral rolls have names of Muslims who've 'recently arrived' in the village, panchayat authorities should take cognisance and get those names removed from the list.
The resolution was unanimously passed by the panchayat in Shingnapur village in the Karvir Taluka of Kolhapur district.
This is the translation of the full text of the resolution:
"The above issue was discussed in detail and it was unanimously decided that while registering new voters in the limits of Shingnapur village, the names of newly arriving minorities (Muslims) should not be included in the new voter list. Also, when the new voter list is published, if it is noticed that the names of new minorities (Muslims) have been recorded, it has been unanimously decided that the names should be reduced through the Gram Panchayat."
While the Election Commission is yet to announce the dates, Maharashtra is expected to go to polls in either November or December 2024.
'The Resolution is Unconstitutional...': Muslim Rights Bodies
Gani Abdul Aajrekar, Chief of the Muslim Education Society in Kolhapur, said that the resolution passed by the panchayat is unconstitutional and discriminatory. "This resolution is aimed at a social boycott of the Muslim community and is discriminatory in nature," he alleged to The Quint.
The Muslim Education Society on Sunday, 15 September, approached the District Magistrate (DM) and submitted a complaint against the resolution. "The resolution is against India's constitution which grants voting rights to all citizens. A criminal case should be filed against the Sarpanch, panchayat members and Village Development Officers who decided to take away the right to vote on the basis of religion. The panchayat should be suspended," they demanded in the complaint.
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'Resolution is Being Misrepresented': Sarpanch
A few hours after the rights activists approached the DM, Shingnapur Sarpanch Rasika Patil issued a video clarifying that the resolution was being 'misrepresented' by some people to 'disrupt' communal harmony in the district.
"(A few weeks ago) two Muslim Bangladeshi women came to the village. They were using Aadhar cards and living as Indian citizens. At the gram sabha meeting, there was a discussion on this and it was decided that action should be taken against these women. But that letter (demanding action) is being presented in a wrong way to harm social harmony. This needs to be looked into. As the popularly elected Sarpanch of Shingnapur, I express regret at how the letter has been misrepresented and made to go viral," Patil said in a video statement.
On 15 September, the Gram Panchayat also issued another letter "apologising" to the Muslim community and giving an assurance that "no such action would be taken by the Panchayat".
This wasn't the first such controversy in the village.
In August 2023, another resolution passed by the same gram panchayat called for prohibition of allotment of village common land for 'religious functions'. "Any grazing land within the limits of the Shingnapur village should not be assigned for any religious or political functions or to the Waqf Board. If land has been assigned/allotted to the Waqf Board, it should be given back to the gram panchayat. Burial and cremation ground should also be given back to the gram panchayat," a copy of the said resolution dated 28 August 2023 said.
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