SIR gives BJP fresh excuse to demonize Muslims and create polarization; Bengal, Delhi units lead the way – Alt News

The ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has given the BJP a fresh excuse to intensify its politics of hate. Under the garb of sensitising people about SIR, the party’s social media handles have indulged in unabashed communal stereotyping, scaremongering and Islamophobia. 

SIR is a constitutional process overseen by the Election Commission of India aimed at refining the electoral rolls by removing deceased voters, duplicate entries, migrants, or invalid entries, and ensuring that all valid, eligible voters are included. This process is supposed to be more thorough than the annual summary revisions, and involves door-to-door verification by appointed booth-level officers (BLOs) who distribute enumeration forms and collect updated voter information. The last SIR took place in 2002. 

Although SIR is in no way meant to identify illegal immigrants or target minorities, the BJP has succeeded in steering the entire discourse surrounding SIR into a communal one by demonizing Muslims. It is being portrayed as an exercise that will protect Indian Hindus against Muslims. The BJP West Bengal’s official X account, in particular, has been sharing posts vilifying the community on a regular basis.   

Islamophobic Posts by Bengal BJP

On November 18, the official West Bengal BJP X account shared an animated cartoon contrasting two scenes labelled as “Then” and “Now”. In the “Then” frame, Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, is depicted welcoming individuals in stereotypically Muslim attire  — men donning a skullcap and a woman in a burqa, who are portrayed crossing the border and entering West Bengal from Bangladesh while brandishing weapons. The “Now” frame, captioned “SIR started in West Bengal”, depicts the same figures returning to Bangladesh. The image is titled, “The difference is clear”. 

This post is accompanied by a caption, “SIR – how it protects you from the demographic invasion from Bangladesh”. The post implies that Muslims from Bangladesh had entered India with malicious intentions and contributed to what the post claims as “demographic invasion”. It further suggests that the implementation of SIR will overturn this alleged trend by identifying and expelling Muslim infiltrators.

SIR – how it protects you from the demographic invasion from Bangladesh‼️ pic.twitter.com/QHGkgttgaw

— BJP West Bengal (@BJP4Bengal) November 18, 2025

Another animated video shared by Bengal BJP features Goopy and Bagha, popular characters from Bengali children’s literature created by Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury. In the video, they are transported to a futuristic version of Bengal, where the streets are populated by men wearing skullcaps and lungis, and shop signs are written in Urdu.

Goopy asks Bagha, “What kind of future is this? What is this language? Who is in power here? Where have we arrived? Is this really the future of Bengal?” A local man, dressed in a shirt and pants, replies to Goopy, saying, “This is the Urdu language.” Pointing to a poster of Firhad Hakim, the man explains, “This place is Metiaburuz, which Hakim refers to as ‘mini Pakistan,’ ruled by a tyrant, Mamata Banerjee.”

The video is accompanied by a caption that states, “It’s a future for Goopy and Bagha, but for the people of West Bengal, it is already the reality today!” The video reflects the dismay of the fictional Bengali characters as they discover the present situation in Bengal, where, allegedly, many shop signs are written in Urdu. Goopy laments, “Once Bengal was known as ‘Sonar Bangla’ for its rich agricultural production and abundance of wealth, with great respect for art and artists. And now, look around and witness the state of the ‘Sonar Bangla.’”

The video continues to criticise the Trinamool Congress government, but its portrayal of Metiaburuz as a site of decline and dismay directly targets the Bengali Muslims.

It’s future for Goopy and Bagha, but for the people of West Bengal it is already the reality today‼️ pic.twitter.com/EtJrDzm7aY

— BJP West Bengal (@BJP4Bengal) November 23, 2025

In another animated video, a character named Abhishek, who is a local TMC member, is depicted as wearing a lungi. Notably, in the list of his various wrongdoings, he allegedly does not allow Hindu devotees to worship peacefully at local temples and shows disrespect towards Hindu deities. One of his striking “notorious” actions includes his protest against the passing of the WAQF Bill. At this point in the video, an original photograph from a protest against the amendment of the WAQF Bill is shown. Additionally, the video portrays Muslim men as Bangladeshi “infiltrators,” suggesting that Abhishek provides them with fake voter ID cards to secure more votes for the TMC.

Even Byomkesh and Feluda know what TMC is—an organization full of Tolabaaz, Molesters, and Corrupts. Bengal once known for figures like Swami Vivekananda, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Satyajit Ray, and Kadambini Ganguly is now, being associated with names like Anubrato, Monojit,… pic.twitter.com/2vhAo4KQM2

— BJP West Bengal (@BJP4Bengal) November 25, 2025

In another post, BJP struck a parallel between the condition of West Bengal, Pakistan and Syria, calling it no less threatening, and shared an animated video showing the deplorable situation of West Bengal. In this video, a man is shown being chased by four men. No points for guessing, obviously, these men are wearing skullcaps and are also named Ralib, Galib, and Chalib. This portrayal vilifies Muslim men by using stereotypical visual cues.

In the caption, BJP Bengal also claims that if the Trinamool Congress remains in power, Jizya tax could be reinstated. The Jizya is a tax historically imposed on non-Muslim subjects by Islamic states in exchange for protection, exemption from military service, and the right to practice their religion. It has traditionally been viewed as a fee for living under Muslim rule, signifying a subordinate status. Historically, the Mughal emperor Akbar abolished this tax, while Aurangzeb later reintroduced it. 

On November 29, a call for toppling the TMC government was posted by the BJP West Bengal account. The video begins with a fruit seller referring to women customers as “Apu”, meaning sister, commonly used in Bengali Muslim households. In the next moment, the seller corrects himself and calls them ‘didi’, urging them to buy fresh fruits that have not been sprinkled with water. Notably, he uses the word “pani” instead of “jol.” His speech reflects a dialect distinct from those typically spoken in Kolkata. 

After purchasing fruits, the two women discuss the seller’s manner of speaking, characterising it as a Bangladeshi dialect influenced by Urdu and Bangla. They speculate that he might be an “intruder” from Bangladesh who has recently settled in the area. One of the other women further claims to have learned that around 1.5 crore “illegal infiltrators” are residing in West Bengal and allegedly casting votes using fake voter cards. 

বিষ ফল হইতে সাবধান, আসছে সমাধান! #NoVoteToTMC pic.twitter.com/KBeMnWlFcT

— BJP West Bengal (@BJP4Bengal) November 29, 2025

In a similar video shared by the official Instagram page of BJP West Bengal, a woman expresses her frustration over the unexplained absence of her househelp without any prior notice. Her husband suggests that the househelp’s absence is due to the SIR. He questions whether the househelp has ever mentioned her own name or provided any credible details about her residence. He points out that the househelp referred to “house” as “basha,” a term commonly used by Bengali Muslims, rather than “bari,” which is more frequently used by Bengali speakers in Kolkata. 

The woman recalls that people used to refer to the househelp as Ayesha’s mother instead of using her actual name. Additionally, the husband notes that a greengrocer, along with his entire family, has also gone missing. He claims that these individuals are from Bangladesh and were residing in West Bengal. 

The video is accompanied by a caption that reads, “The infiltrator disappeared due to SIR! Wake up now to keep Bengal’s soil safe, wake up Bengali!”

In another video, two men are seen discussing the closure of their former school due to insufficient government aid and a lack of students. They also note the increasing number of Madrasas and the consistent attendance of students there. One of the men expresses scepticism about the type of education provided to the students, questioning whether they are being trained for anti-India terrorist activities.

The caption of the video reads, “One after another Bengali medium school lock! Madrasa is growing up!
Now wake up, Bengali, wake up!”

All these posts have one thing in common, and that is Muslim vilification and an incitement to see Muslims essentially as disruptors. They seek to create a sense of suspicion against people who speak in a ‘different’ dialect, who are from the Muslim community and attend classes in Madrasas. The narrative frames these differences as markers of illegitimacy or foreignness. In other words, Bengal BJP is weaponising the process of SIR to instill fear about Muslims and deepen Islamophobia.

Delhi BJP tweets

On the other hand, on December 1, 2025, the official Delhi BJP X-account shared a graphical image resembling a poster, portraying opposition leaders Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal, Akhilesh Yadav, and Mamata Banerjee in Muslim attire. The image was titled, “Ghuspaithiyon ke Bhaijaan”, which, when translated, means “Brothers of Infiltrators”.

A caption accompanied the graphical poster, which said, “These are the sympathisers of the infiltrators who have faced the most trouble by SIR”, suggesting that the opposition leaders who are against the SIR are purportedly sympathisers of the “infiltrators”. 

SIR से सबसे ज़्यादा तकलीफ़, घुसपैठियों के इन हमदर्दों को है 👇 pic.twitter.com/GegzMMGwJJ

— BJP Delhi (@BJP4Delhi) December 1, 2025

Delhi BJP posted another video on Instagram implicitly linking “intruders” to Muslims. The video depicts a family exhibiting stereotypical Muslim identity-markers — a man and two boys wearing skullcaps and lungis, and a woman in a burqa, inside a room adorned with what appears to be Islamic verses. In the animation, the woman wakes her husband up, urging him to get ready, as the election commission is conducting SIR. Rapidly, the entire family is depicted as fleeing through a barbed-wire border with several others. 

A lit mosquito coil appears in the frame whose fumes form “SIR” inscribed bubbles, metaphorically equating Muslims with mosquitoes in an explicitly dehumanising trope.   

In another video, a thresher is shown operating in a field resulting in the pigs fleeing. This video has been titled, “SIR se ghuspathiyo meh deshad”, which can be translated into English as, “SIR is causing fear within the infiltrators”. The video is accompanied by a caption, ”See who is suffering the most from SIR in Bengal and the whole country?” 

Thus, ahead of the 2026 elections in West Bengal, the BJP is weaponising the SIR process to demonize Muslims, reiterating that “infiltrators” are encroaching upon the country’s land and are responsible for all the ill-doings in the country. In their portrayal of the “infiltrators”, the depiction without fail is of a Muslim.

The other Constant: X’s Failure to Curb Such Content  

Apart form the brazen communal vilification, the other constant about these posts is the platform’s (in this case, X) failure to curb content that clearly violates its policy.

X’s policy against hateful conduct prohibits content that “incites behaviour targeting individuals or groups belonging to protected categories”. The policy states that content “inciting fear or spreading stereotypes about protected categories — including claims that members of these groups are more likely to engage in dangerous or illegal activities” — is not acceptable.

It also says, “We prohibit the dehumanisation of a group of people based on their religion, caste, age, disability, serious disease, national origin, race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation.”

The above mentioned content shared by Bengal BJP and Delhi BJP on X, which dehumanises and vilifies a minority group, is a clear example of the kind of content X proclaims to prohibit. Their prolonged existence on the platform and massive traction prove the ineffectiveness of X’s policy. 

ALSO READ: Scrolling through Assam BJP’s X handle: An exhibition of hate, xenophobia & anti-Muslim propaganda    

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