ID please: The big fight over counting voters

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

ID please: The big fight over counting voters

Wtf is a SIR? With the assembly elections looming on the horizon, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar’s electoral rolls—the list of people eligible to vote. Those words ‘special’ and ‘intensive’ are important.

‘Intensive’ revision requires starting from scratch—creating a fresh roll of voters by actually visiting households.
‘Special’ simply means the ECI can use any method to ‘correct’ large-scale errors in the rolls.

Why this is a big deal: The last special revision took place in 2003—and usually requires pressing reasons. In this case, the ECI argues that Bihar has undergone significant demographic changes in the past 20 years due to urbanisation and migration—which means additions, deletions and checking for duplicate entries in the electoral roll.

What’s happening in Bihar: The SIR kicked off on July 1 and the final electoral roll will be published on September 30. The ECI is employing a mix of methods—doing home visits and distributing “enumeration” forms to the 50 million people already on the 2003 list. The forms can be filled online on a special ECI website—or with the help of an electoral official during a house visit.

But, but, but: If you are not on that 2003 electoral roll, the ECI also wants you to submit documents that prove your eligibility to vote—which is the key source of controversy.

ID proof dikhaiye: The ECI is asking for at least one of eleven documents:

These are government employee card/pension order, any government-issued ID prior to July 1, 1987, birth certificate, passport, recognised educational certificate, permanent residence certificate, forest rights certificate, Caste certificate by a competent authority, National Register of Citizens, family register or any land/house allotment certificate by government.

Not on the list: PAN, Aadhaar, ration cards and MGNREGA cards—which are most commonly used to establish identity.

Recipe for disenfranchisement?: Out of the 79.6 million-odd voters in Bihar, the ECI claims only 29 million voters will have to verify their credentials. But independent experts say the number is way higher—more than 47 million. The required list of IDs may seem long but that is deceptively so:

In 1987, birth registration was a mere 2%, it then increased to 15% and now, even when the national average is at 62%, we are 40%. Half of Bihar’s population — i.e., labourers, Dalits, and the extremely backward class have no such documents. All these restrictions seem like an attempt to exclude poor, backward voters.

They are far more likely to have a ration, labour, MGNREGA or Aadhaar card—none of which are on the list.

Also this: The timing couldn’t be worse. Around 70% of young Biharis are working as farm labourers in Punjab and Haryana—and 7-8 districts in North Bihar are flooded right now. All of which increases the risk of exclusion.

A backdoor citizenship test: The ECI requires more from a special category of would-be voters:

For those born between July 1, 1987 and December 2, 2004, additional documentary proof of date and place of birth of either father or mother is required. For those voters born after December 2, 2004, both parents’ date and place of birth are required to be submitted.

This sudden interest in ‘place of birth’ is unprecedented:

While electoral rolls in India have always included people over 18 years from their ordinary place of residence, this time the EC is looking into the place of birth. A poll strategist explains: “Now, they are prioritizing place of birth — an American concept. In India, one needs to be a citizen, not born here to stand for elections.

Critics say this is a blatant attempt to use elections to force people to ‘prove’ their citizenship—the controversial goal of the National Register of Citizens—and its cousin, the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Supreme Court weighs in: Unsurprisingly, activists have moved the Supreme Court—which issued an interim ‘advisory’ yesterday. It allowed the ECI to proceed with the SIR but asked it to consider Aadhaar cards, voter cards and ration cards as identity proof. But, but, but: That helpful suggestion is not mandatory:

[T]he poll panel was free to disregard these documents in individual cases if it had strong reasons. But these reasons should be communicated to the person concerned. “If you have good reason to discard, you are free to discard, but you must give reasons,” the bench of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said.

How very accommodating of the justices—especially since the ruling also acknowledged this:

It said the larger issue raised in the batch of petitions, which have sought quashing of the SIR order as unconstitutional, “goes to the very root of democracy” and needed to be examined in depth.

No doubt, the in-depth examination will take so very long—the Bihar elections will be a distant memory. And there will be no point in undoing their results even if the SIR proves unconstitutional. Call it the ‘spilt milk’ approach to jurisprudence.

Why you should really, really care: The ECI plans to conduct SIRs for elections across the country—including the next big one in West Bengal in 2026.

Reading list: The Hindu and Al Jazeera offer the best explainers of the controversy. The Wire makes the case for disenfranchisement. The Telegraph and Indian Express have more on the SC ruling. Also check out our Big Story on the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act and its connection to the National Register of Citizens.

New study rekindles antidepressant withdrawal debate

The context: There has been great anxiety over ending any kind of anti-depressant treatment. All thanks to a 2019 study that found that 56% of patients suffered from withdrawal symptoms when they stopped their meds—of which 46% said their symptoms were “severe.” The findings led to new treatment protocols that now are a required part of standard care:

Reducing the dose of antidepressant medication in stages over time (known as 'tapering') helps to reduce withdrawal effects and supports withdrawing from the medication when their long-term use is not indicated. The decision to stop antidepressant medication, including speed and duration of withdrawal, should be taken after discussion and agreement between the adult and their healthcare professional. It is important that adults are monitored and reviewed while their dose is being reduced.

What happened now: A new study published in JAMA Psychiatry says the fears are greatly overblown:

The authors of the new paper found that a week after quitting antidepressants, patients reported symptoms like dizziness, nausea and vertigo, but that they remained, on average, “below the threshold for clinically significant” withdrawal.

They argue that earlier studies failed to differentiate between actual withdrawal symptoms and the placebo effect. They also did not differentiate between different antidepressants.

The new methodology: This study took a different approach—looking at 50 studies with more than 17,000 subjects (the gold standard of scientific trials):

The authors did not try to measure the prevalence of withdrawal symptoms or their severity. Instead, they used a research tool to track individual symptoms present in patients after stopping an antidepressant, and compared them to the symptoms of patients who had stopped taking a placebo.

They also looked at a wide range of anti-depressants. Hence, the sweeping claims.

But, but, but: The study has sparked a firestorm of criticism. The primary allegation: The study mainly looked at short-term trials—most often funded by the pharma industry.

Most trial subjects were on meds for 8-12 weeks. But many real-world patients take them for years:

Studying what happens to people after just eight to 12 weeks on antidepressants is like testing car safety by crashing a vehicle into a wall at 5km/h – ignoring the fact that real drivers are out on the roads doing 60km/h.

Also this: There are plenty of other ‘gold standard’ studies that say the opposite. Example: A survey of NHS patients found that people who used antidepressants for more than two years were 10X more likely to experience withdrawal symptoms compared to short-term users. Almost a third reported symptoms lasting over three months and "four-fifths of these patients were unable to stop their antidepressants despite trying."

The big picture: This bickering in the medical community does little to help millions of people who suffer from depression—and worry about spending the rest of their lives on meds.

Reading list: New York Times has the best reporting on the results of the JAMA study, which can be found here. Read The Conversation for the study’s criticisms, as well as other studies providing counterpoints.

what caught our eye

business & tech

AI-generated child sexual abuse content is exploding online—with over 1,200 deepfake videos flagged this year alone, watchdogs warn it’s getting harder to tell fake from real, and law enforcement is struggling to keep up.
YouTube is updating its monetisation policy to identify mass-produced, repetitive videos that are not considered authentic.
Microsoft has racked up over $500 million in AI savings while slashing jobs.

sports & entertainment

Radhika Yadav, a 25-year-old tennis player, was allegedly shot dead by her father in their Gurgaon home—reportedly over a reel she posted online.
Chris Pratt will return to voice Garfield in the sequel to the 2024 box office hit.
‘The Big Bang Theory’ is getting another spinoff—’Stuart Fails to Save the Universe’, with Kevin Sussman back as comic book shop owner Stuart Bloom.
Also making a comeback: Ben Stiller’s ‘Night at the Museum’ franchise, almost 20 years since the release of the first film.
Convicted fraudster Billy MacFarland has put his notorious Fyre Festival brand for sale on eBay—much to the delight of budding grifters.
We have a new men’s cricket record! Curtis Campher has become the first bowler to take five wickets on five consecutive balls—achieving the feat in a franchise T20 match in Ireland.

health & environment

India’s forests are losing their power to absorb carbon dioxide—and planting more trees isn’t fixing the problem, says a new IIT-Kharagpur study.
The Sonoran Desert toad’s psychedelic secretions have made it a target for drug users—so much so that scientists say the species is now at risk of extinction.
The US is gearing up to drop billions of lab-bred flies over Mexico and Texas—to stop a flesh-eating maggot from wrecking its cattle, wildlife, and pets.
TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels—it doesn’t matter which platform you use for short form content, it’s all cooking your brain.
A new study has identified four autism subtypes with distinct genes and traits.
Scientists in Japan show that it’s possible to genetically modify mice to make their own Ozempic-like drugs.
As usual, influencers are going too far in recommending elaborate shower routines—Associated Press interviews dermatologists who insist simple is effective enough.
Good Food Movement offers up Gurgaon and the Ganga basin as a cautionary tale on how rapid, unplanned urbanisation has direct damaging consequences for groundwater.

meanwhile, in the world

Hamas says no to any ceasefire that keeps Israeli troops in Gaza—even as it offers to release 10 hostages and truce talks continue in Qatar.
Mahmoud Khalil is suing the Trump administration for $20 million over his arrest and detention.
The Hindu has everything you need to know on Francesca Albanese—the UN Gaza rapporteur just sanctioned by the US.
France and the UK have agreed to work more closely on their nuclear weapons as worries grow over security in Europe and the reliability of the US.
Bangladesh saw 258 attacks on minorities in just six months, says the country’s largest minority group—blaming the government’s silence for emboldening the perpetrators.
Financial Times (splainer gift link) has a good read on how a sexual harassment lawsuit at Moët Hennessy is exposing deeper cultural problems inside LVMH’s €6 billion drinks empire.
A federal judge has blocked Trump’s order to end birthright citizenship, calling it unlawful and putting the issue on a fast track to the Supreme Court.
Trump is slapping a 35% tariff on Canadian imports from next month, with 15–20% duties planned for most other US trade partners.
Wall Street Journal has the details on how the ultra-rich are swapping seats on private jets in secret group chats—because even billionaires like a good deal.
What happens if you throw a paper plane from the ISS? A new study from University of Tokyo scientists finally has the answer.
New York Times (splainer gift link) has a good read on the rise of the “princess treatment” trend—and what viral debates over door-opening, shoe-tying and flower-buying say about gender roles today.
Wall Street Journal has the take on MatchaTok’s meltdown—as soaring prices and a global shortage spark infighting among diehard fans of the bright green brew.
A 5,000-year-old rock carving found near Aswan may show one of Egypt’s earliest rulers—offering new clues about how pharaohs first rose to power.

meanwhile, in India

Adani bags a third mega project in Mumbai—Motilal Nagar in Goregaon—after clinching Dharavi and Bandra Reclamation deals. Read our Big Story on how Adani is taking over the city’s real estate, and why that spells trouble for its residents.
Two Union ministries have refused to share why nearly 8,000 social media handles—including those of journalists and news outlets—were blocked after Operation Sindoor, rejecting RTI requests that asked for the official orders behind the blackout.
Delhi’s fuel ban on end-of-life vehicles has been pushed to November 1—after public pushback forced a rethink on the July rollout.
Rottweilers and Pitbulls could soon be banned in Goa—with the state cabinet clearing a bill set to be tabled this monsoon session.
Assam CM says Bengali-speaking Muslims who don’t list Assamese as their mother tongue will help the state identify “foreigners.”

Five things to see

One: Hugh Grant is finally a sleepy old man—the kind that nods off during exciting tennis matches—like the quarterfinal between Novak Djokovic and Flavio Cobolli at Wimbledon on Wednesday. Yes, he is in the Royal Box. (CNN)

Two: The world’s most beloved pygmy hippo turned one yesterday! Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand kicked off a four-day celebration with a special birthday cake—a tropical fruit platter sponsored by a skincare beautician. Is there a better brand ambassador for antioxidants than a pink-cheeked Moo? There was also a photo exhibition—fittingly titled ‘Moo Deng in Every Moment’ for the permanently viral baby. See her munching on her birthday cake below. For once, she isn’t inside the bowl. (The Independent)

Three: Google’s Gemini AI can now turn photos into 8-second short videos. But there is a catch: The feature is available only to paid users—but we can still enjoy the results. Of course, we picked the talking dog! (Quartz)

Four: The original Birkin—arguably the most coveted accessory in fashion history— sold for $10.1 million at a Sotheby’s auction in Paris. It is now the most valuable handbag ever sold at an auction. Original price: $2,000. A little bit of context to help you appreciate this beauty: Birkin sells atrociously priced bags made of Niloticus crocodile, alligator, and Varanus Salvator lizard skins. (Wall Street Journal, paywalled, BBC News)

Five: Lotuses are in full bloom at Kashmir’s Wular Lake—Asia’s largest freshwater lake—after a long, long gap of 30 years. The idyllic lake stopped blooming when the plants were destroyed by a flood. (Indian Express)