By Avantika Basu

A retired Indian Army Havildar, Md Daud Ali from Murshidabad district, who served the country for over two decades, including in the 1999 Kargil war, is now battling to prove his identity after his name was struck off the voter’s list. The sixty-four year old also sustained a lasting ear injury in a mortar shell blast in 2001.

“I served this nation for 21 years, one month and one day. Yet today, my nationality – and my family’s – is being questioned,” says a disappointed Ali.

Over 27 lakh voters’ names have been marked “deleted” following the adjudication of over 60 lakh electors, according to the Election Commission.

Those have been removed from the electoral roll can now approach the appellate tribunals for inclusion of their names. The 19 appellate tribunals are , however, yet to start functioning.

Trouble began for Ali when he discovered that his name had been deleted from the electoral rolls due to discrepancies in official records, particularly a spelling error in his father’s name. Compounding the problem, his mother, whose name was there on the 2002 voters’ list, passed away in 2008.

Additionally, Ali’s children’s names have also been deleted.

“My mother’s name is in the voter list of 2002. I was called for a hearing in Baharampur. I submitted all the documents. But then not only mine but my son and two daughters’ names have all been deleted,” said Ali, adding, “Because my name was removed, both of my daughter’s and a son’s names were struck off as well.”

“Now, only my wife, Minuwara Khatun (50), remains on the voter’s list,” Ali said.

Despite taking legal recourse and filing a case before a tribunal, Ali says there has been no progress. “I don’t know what else I can do or whom shall I approach,” he said.

What weighs most heavily on him is not just the bureaucratic struggle, but the sense of disillusionment. “It is deeply disappointing. After dedicating a long part of my life to serving the Indian army, this is the situation I find myself in today,” he says.

“If this is happening to someone like me, I can only imagine what ordinary civilians might be going through.”

Ali’s case highlights the human cost of documentation errors and bureaucratic delay Where a single discrepancy can cast doubt over a lifetime of service and belonging.

(Avantika Basu is an intern at the Kolkata office of The Indian Express)