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A unique administrative and social controversy has emerged during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive of electoral rolls currently underway in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) area. There is a lot of confusion and confusion among Muslim women voters regarding the passport size photographs to be pasted on the voter list form. Particularly among women wearing hijab, burqa or traditional head scarves, there is deep suspense over whether it is legally mandatory for their ears to be visible in photographs taken for government records and voter ID cards. The issue became more serious when booth level officers (BLOs) posted at different polling stations started giving contradictory instructions to women, sparking demands for clarity in the entire process.
Confusion spread due to different statements of BLO: There is a huge lack of uniformity in the rules at the ground level.
According to reports coming from various Muslim dominated areas of Hyderabad, the officials working at the ground level themselves are not clearly aware of this rule. Some booth level officers (BLOs) have given strict instructions to women to submit photographs in which their head is covered but both the ears are clearly visible. In contrast, many other BLOs seemed completely unsure about this and started accepting any kind of photo.
Expressing concern over this administrative confusion, Ayesha Fatima, a Muslim woman voter from Manikonda, said that there is a general perception among the people that the ears of a woman applicant for passport, Aadhaar or any other main official document should be clearly visible. Due to this social perception and different statements of the officials, the question is arising in the minds of women whether there is any conflict with the photo of the government identity card with their religious attire.
Social media rumors increase concern in Bahadurpura: Mixing of photos without scarf and with scarf
The biggest impact of this confusion is being seen in Bahadurpura assembly constituency. A BLO working there told that there were many rumors and misleading posts on this subject on social media, after which he has been flooded with questions from women.
The current situation is that women are completely confused and are submitting photos of three different categories—some women are submitting normal photos without headscarf, some are submitting photos with scarf showing their ears, and some are also submitting photos in which both head and ears are completely covered. BLOs are currently only focusing on ensuring that the photo is not blurred, but they are not in a position to tell anyone concrete rules.
Differences among election registration officers also: Awaiting clarification from senior officials
This confusion is not just limited to the general public or BLOs, but there was a huge lack of uniformity regarding the guidelines even at the level of top election registration officers (EROs). When this rule was scrutinized at the administrative level, three different officials made three different arguments.
A senior official clearly admitted that no special or separate guideline has been issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI) regarding the mandatory appearance of ears in hijab. At the same time, another officer said that if the ears are clearly visible in the photo, then they will immediately accept it without any objection. In contrast, the third official avoided any kind of controversy and said that he would give any official reply only after taking written clarification from his top officials on this sensitive topic.
District Election Officer RV Karnan ends the suspense: Clear face visibility is the only condition
Putting an end to all the speculations and confusion going on from social media to administrative corridors regarding the pictures, the District Election Officer (DEO) and GHMC Commissioner RV Karnan has finally clarified the entire situation. He has clarified in clear and strong words that in the secular structure of India, there is no objection to the religious attire of any citizen in the election process.
Issuing an official statement, District Election Officer RV Karnan said that the most important and basic thing for the voter ID card or new registration form is that all the photographs should be absolutely clear and of high quality. As long as the face of the woman voter concerned is completely clear, recognizable and visible from the front in the photograph, there should be no problem with the authenticity of the photographs due to ears being visible or not and all such photographs will be accepted immediately without any discrimination.