The SIR Saga: 'Missing' UP Man, Presumed Dead by Family, Returns Home After 29 Years to Collect Documents

After

nearly three decades of silence, a septuagenarian man long presumed dead by his family returned to his hometown Khatauli in Muzaffarnagar district to collect documents for the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal, where he is settled for the past many years, reported PTI.

Married, Settled in West Bengal: Man Returns For SIR Documents

The man identified as Sharif Ahmad (79) had gone ‘missing’ in 1997 when he moved to West Bengal following his second marriage after the death of his first wife. Ahmad arrived in his hometown on December 29 to collect documents for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, his nephew Waseem Ahmad told PTI.“We tried to trace him over the years, even travelled to West Bengal and followed up the address provided by his second wife, but all attempts failed,” Waseem said. “With no contact for decades, his four daughters and the family assumed that he was no longer alive,” he added.The emotional reunion brought joy to the family, Waseem said. “Seeing him after so many years was a deeply moving experience for all of us,” he said.

Sharif said he returned to his hometown to collect documents related to the SIR exercise in Bengal, which compelled him to re-establish contact with his native place. During his visit, he found that many of his close family members, including his father and brother, had passed away. After the brief visit, Sharif returned to West Bengal’s Medinipur district, where he lives with his family, to complete the SIR formalities.

SIR in West Bengal

Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday hit out at Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, saying he failed to address their concerns on the ongoing SIR in West Bengal and was "aggressive" towards them, after a party delegation met the poll panel in New Delhi. The TMC said that it will not accept the final voter list if it has "discrepancies". The SIR has become a new flashpoint between the poll body and the Trinamool Congress.Meanwhile, the Election Commission (EC) officials said that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) delegation was told that intimidation of any electoral staff by ground-level political representatives and workers will not be tolerated and that the West Bengal government should immediately release the enhanced honorarium to each BLO.(With PTI Inputs)