In 1757, Mir Jafar helped change the course of the history of the Indian subcontinent when he sided with the British against his employer, Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah. The East India Company won the Battle of Plassey, and used it as a launching point to conquer the Indian heartland, and eventually the entire country. Robert Clive, commander of the Company’s army, installed Mir Jafar as honorary Nawab, who ruled until his death in 1765.
Nearly three centuries later, Jafar’s descendants find themselves running from pillar to post after their names were deleted from the electoral roll during the Special Intensive Review (SIR) in West Bengal. Reason: Change in the names of some family members.
“Our ancestors built the Hazardwari Palace and other buildings that define Murshidabad. However, our names have been crossed out,” said Syed Muhammad Fahim Mirza, a descendant of Mir Jafar and Trinamool Congress councilor in Murshidabad municipality.
The eldest member of the family, 82-year-old Syed Muhammad Raza Ali Mirza, popularly known as Chote Nawab, lives in the historic Qila Nizamat area of Murshidabad town.
His name and the names of his son Syed Muhammad Fahim Mirza, his daughter-in-law, and Muhammad Abbas Ali Mirza’s two nieces and eldest son were removed after they were flagged for “logical inconsistency”.
“Names have been omitted even though several family members responded to hearing notices and submitted documents,” Fahim Mirza said.
He added: “My father’s name was changed from Muhammad Reza Ali Mirza to include Syed, and my name was changed from Syed Fahim Mirza to include Muhammad. By placing us in the ‘under segregation’ category, we showed up for the hearings despite my father’s health problems.”
“We will go to the electoral court but the process is taking a long time. The issue may not be resolved before the House of Representatives elections,” Fahim Mirza said.
In the Bengal elections, which will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29, Murshidabad will vote first.
“Nawab’s family members must follow the rules like others,” said a district election official who requested anonymity.
Gauri Shankar Ghosh, a BJP MP from Murshidabad who is seeking re-election, said there was no intentional or accidental omission. “Neither our party nor the EC said that the names of real voters should be removed. The name is removed for technical reasons. They can ask for reintegration,” Ghosh said.
