• SIR

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    Over the last year and a half, arbitrary rules, opaque systems and demands for proof in the process of Special Intensive Revision (SIR), have stripped millions of people of their democratic right to vote. Across the country, over 13.3 crore voters have been deleted from rolls or placed under adjudication. In response thousands have thronged the streets demanding the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s, despite mobility restrictions, internet shut-downs, police brutality and arbitrary mass detentions. The burden of these deletions and proof falls hardest on those at the margins: Muslims, Tribals, women, Dalits, nomadic groups, queer and trans persons, migrant workers, the homeless and those most marginalised. Independent media like BehanBox and The Reporters' Collective have spent months tracking how these rules are being bent and rewritten on the ground, and how those with the fewest resources and the least understanding of the exercise are being disproportionately impacted across the board. What does this exclusion look like on the ground? What barriers are people facing, and where do they go from here? Watch this BehanBox Feminist Election Newsroom conversation with reporters Ayushi Kar, Sanhati Banerjee and Samra Iqbal, who uncover the unequal human cost behind SIR. 🎙 SPEAKERS Ayushi Kar, Data Journalist, The Reporters’ Collective Samra Iqbal, Reporter, BehanBox Sanhati Banerjee, Independent Journalist 🎙 MODERATOR Anjali, Community Manager and Lead of Flagship Projects, BehanBox ⏱ CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 03:45 Context to SIR Protests 10:53 Ayushi Kar on Softwares, Algorithms and Protocols of Exclusion 23:41 Sanhati Banerjee on SIR and Disenfranchisement in West Bengal 50:55 Samra Iqbal on Hypersurveillance and the Making of the Invisible 55:17 Q&A on Labour, Citizenship and Electoral Politics 01:26:47 Closing 📩 JOIN THE FEMINIST ELECTION NEWSROOM Be part of future conversations: https://forms.gle/zku6cXAj8QrfgPnH9 The Feminist Election Newsroom is BehanBox's initiative to build a collective feminist practice of democratic engagement – tracking, interrogating, and holding power accountable, during elections and beyond. 🔗 ABOUT BEHANBOX BehanBox is a feminist media organisation that interrogates gender and marginality in India to build an India without margins – where power, resources, and dignity belong to everyone. Website: behanbox.com Instagram: @behanbox LinkedIn: BehanBox #SIR #SpecialIntensiveRevision #Gyanesh #ECI #ElectionCommission #CJP #DelhiProtests #CockroachJantaParty #VoteChori #WorkersAndMigrants #SIRAndExclusion #BehanBox #FeministMedia #JournalistsOnGround #RealitiesOfSIR #Elections #WestBengal #DelhiElections
    The Unequal Burden of SIR: Hear from the journalists investigating on the ground across India
    Who gets to remain on the electoral roll? And what happens to those who don’t? Across India, over 13.3 crore voters have been deleted from electoral rolls or placed under adjudication as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). For many already rendered invisible by the state, the SIR process has posed a new worry: “will the state even see me, if my vote is deleted?” a woman from West Bengal told Sanhati Banerjee. “Every step is like a hurdle, you pass the enumeration phase and make it to the draft list but then again you’re flagged for either being “unmapped” or for some “logical discrepancy,” adds Samra Iqbal. Ayushi Kar highlights the gaps in the process, “Since a lot of ECI's own protocols cannot be mapped to previous processes… AI algorithms are used to mark people as unmapped or logical discrepancy” Independent media like BehanBox and Reporters Collective have spent months tracking how those with the fewest resources and the least understanding of the exercise are being disproportionately impacted across the board. In this Feminist Election Newsroom conversation, Ayushi Kar, Sanhati Banerjee and Samra Iqbal tell us about the unequal human cost of an activity like SIR. ✂️ Watch the full conversation on Youtube. #SIR #gyaneshkumar #cjp #cockroach #voter #women
    The Unequal Burden of SIR | Hear from journalists on the ground
    There are two stories about data centres. The first, told by companies and governments, promises abundance: jobs, foreign investment, a transformed society, and a ‘sovereign AI’. The second is an account of deficits and discrepancies: projects large enough to consume the resources of an entire city, coerced land grabs and false promises, and environmental clearances approved within days with no public consultation. Where does the truth lie? BehanBox travelled to two proposed hyperscale data centre sites, Tarluvada in Visakhapatnam and Balkum in Thane, to find out. India's environmental clearance system was built in the wake of the Bhopal gas tragedy to make industry answerable for what it does to people and places, and to give affected communities a say before harm is done. Today, those same safeguards are skipped, rushed or opaque. In this video, residents, former government officials and activists share how a process intended to ensure transparency and accountability has become the route by which companies like Adani, Google and Amazon take away lands, lives and futures. Featured in the video: - Pyla Kondamma: Resident of Tarluvada, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh - Relli Ramakrishna: Resident of Tarluvada, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh - E.A.S Sarma: Former IAS Officer and Secretary to Government of India - Deeksha Vanguru: Coalition for AI Regulation, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh - Jatin Kothare and Gurashish Singh Bamra: Members of Wake Up Thanekar Movement and Residents of Balkum, Thane, Maharashtra Reported, edited and produced by: Anjali D Telugu translations and on-ground support: Bhaskar Basava This story has been produced as part of the Asian College of Journalism's Climate Change Media Hub Mentorship Program. ** Read our full explainer on how diluted laws and opaque processes power India’s AI data centre boom: https://behanbox.com/2026/07/26/distributing-land-like-candy-how-diluted-laws-opaque-processes-power-indias-ai-data-centre-boom/ *** Music by Yuzzy: https://bit.ly/2nUbGqD & USCO Media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1dSHiUMLl4&list=RDL1dSHiUMLl4&start_radio=1 🔗 ABOUT BEHANBOX BehanBox is a feminist media organisation that interrogates gender and marginality in India. Website: behanbox.com Instagram: @behanbox LinkedIn: BehanBox #DataCentres #EnvironmentalClearance #EIA #Visakhapatnam #Thane #AIInfrastructure #Hyperscale #ClimateJustice #LandRights #BehanBox #BhopalGasTragedy #Consent #publicconsultation
    Clearing the Data | How India’s Environmental Laws are Failing Communities Facing Data Centres

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