SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
In India, the world's largest democracy, thousands of people are protesting what they say is a systematic effort by the government to strike off electoral rolls voters who are unlikely to favor the ruling Hindu nationalist Party. NPR's Diaa Hadid met some of them in Mumbai.
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UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS #1: (Chanting in non-English language).
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #1: (Non-English language spoken).
DIAA HADID, BYLINE: Crowds chant, where does vote theft happen? In the office of the BJP. That's the party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS #1: (Chanting in non-English language).
HADID: The protest was called by a youth-led political movement after an expose in a newspaper called The Indian Express. It reported on a series of potentially illegal and opaque moves that were overseen by the election commissioner, which led to 130 million people being struck off voter rolls during a nationwide revision of lists. The election commissioner is seen as a loyalist to the prime minister, Narendra Modi.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #2: The story that came in the paper - that was the last straw for a lot of us.
HADID: That's a 35-year-old woman who turned up with her family and friends. She, like most protesters we spoke to, requested anonymity over fears of retribution.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #2: These people are finally fed up. And they're like, you cannot take away my name from the voting list.
HADID: Her friend jumps in.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #2: You see (ph)...
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #3: It isn't - it's not a democracy if you don't have a right to vote.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #2: That's the basic...
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #3: That's the basic thing. Right.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #2: That's the only...
HADID: The Indian Express expose came after a steady stream of articles in smaller outlets. Those articles reported that the commission had used new opaque criteria to judge whether a person should still be on voter rolls. And the appeals process was sluggish - complicated. Some articles reported there was a concerted effort by Hindu nationalists to disenfranchise Muslims.
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UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing in non-English language).
HADID: While protests in Mumbai pass peacefully - even joyfully - in the capital, New Delhi, local media reported that police detained some 500 people as they tried to gather. In one video shared by activists, a man calls out, police are punching protesters.
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UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #4: (Non-English language spoken).
HADID: The Delhi police also declared a ban on gatherings - even chanting slogans. Still, protesters say they'll regroup in New Delhi next Saturday. The election commission has not responded to the revelations in The Indian Express. But local media reported that following the expose in The Indian Express, the election commissioner asked officers to review lists of deleted voters to check if any were mistakenly removed.
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UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS #2: (Chanting) No, Papa.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #5: Telling lies?
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS #2: (Chanting) No, Papa.
HADID: This youth-led movement has already posed one of the biggest challenges yet to the Modi government through mobilizing thousands onto the streets. Just weeks ago, the movement forced the resignation of the education minister. Now the election commissioner is in their sights.
Diaa Hadid, NPR News, Mumbai. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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