Muslim dholak player whose name BJP objected to in voters list honoured with Padma award
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The renowned dholak player whose inclusion in the electoral roll was contested by the BJP in Gujarat has been named in the list of people who have been honoured with Padma awards, a development that has triggered sharp political reactions and renewed scrutiny of objections filed under the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
Days after a BJP corporator raised an objection to the presence of his name in the voters’ list, 74-year-old Mir Haji Kasam—popularly known as Haji Ramakdu and also referred to as Mir Hajibhai Kasambhai—was announced as a Padma Shri awardee on the eve of Republic Day, an honour that has been widely welcomed by the cultural fraternity in the state, according to The Indian Express.
The controversy arose after BJP corporator Sanjay Manvara of the Junagadh Municipal Corporation submitted Form 7 on January 13, seeking the deletion of the names of Kasambhai and four of his family members from the electoral rolls, citing “absent/permanently shifted” as the reason under the ongoing revision exercise.
The Congress has taken up the matter, with its leader of Opposition in the municipal corporation, Lalit Pansara, making public the objection form and demanding legal action, while the party alleged that BJP councillors had filed objections in bulk against voters belonging to a particular community during the revision process.
Kasambhai, who has performed in nearly 3,000 shows across India and abroad and was earlier honoured with the Gujarat Garima Award in 2022, expressed distress over the episode even as he stated that his family possessed all requisite identity documents and was willing to present them to the authorities.
He also clarified that ‘Rathod’ is his surname and ‘Mir’ denotes his sub-caste, an explanation that has been central to the dispute over name variations across official documents.
Meanwhile, the Junagadh District Collector informed the artiste that Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel would felicitate him at an official event.
