Descendants of Mir Jafar, Bengal’s Nawab after Battle of Plassey, deleted from electoral roll

E-PaperSubscribeSubscribeEnjoy unlimited accessSubscribe Now! Get features like In 1757, Mir Jafar helped change the course of the subcontinent’s history when he sided with the British against his employer, the Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah. The East India Company won the Battle of Plassey, using it as a springboard to conquer India’s heartland, and eventually, the whole country. Robert Clive, the company’s army commander, installed Mir Jafar as the titular Nawab, who ruled till his death in 1765. Descendants of Mir Jafar, Bengal’s Nawab after Battle of Plassey, deleted from electoral rollAlmost 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 revision (SIR) in West Bengal. The reason: changes in the names of some family members. “Our ancestors built the Hazarduari Palace and other structures that define Murshidabad. Yet, our names have been struck off,” said Syed Mohammad Fahim Meerza, a descendant of Mir Jafar and a Trinamool Congress councillor at Murshidabad municipality. The eldest member of the family, 82-year-old Syed Mohammad Reza Ali Meerza, popularly addressed as Chhote Nawab, lives in the historic Killa Nizamat area of Murshidabad town. His name, the names of his son Syed Mohammad Fahim Meerza, daughter-in-law, and brother Mohammad Abbas Ali Meerza’s two daughters and elder son were removed after they were flagged for “logical discrepancy”. “The names were deleted although several of the family members responded to hearing notices and provided documents,” Fahim Meerza said. “My father’s name was changed from Mohammad Reza Ali Meerza to include Syed, and my name was changed from Syed Fahim Meerza to include Mohammad. Put in the ‘under adjudication’ category, we appeared for hearings despite my father’s health issues,” he added. “We will approach the electoral tribunal but the process is time-consuming. The issue may not be resolved before the assembly elections,” Fahim Meerza said. In the two-phase Bengal polls to be held on April 23 and 29, Murshidabad will vote first. Requesting anonymity, a district electoral officer said, “Members of the Nawab’s family have to follow the rules like others.” Gauri Shankar Ghosh, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Murshidabad legislator seeking reelection, said no deletion was intentional or accidental. “Neither our party nor the EC said names of genuine voters should be removed. A name is deleted for technical reasons. They can seek reinclusion,” Ghosh said.