Skip to main content

Activist Shabnam Hashmi claims EVMs were subjected to "right-wing manipulation", courtesy "mole" in UPA

By A Representative
Following top multinational media chain, Huffington Post, questioning the reliability of electronic voting machines (EVMs) for casting votes (click HERE) in India, well-known social activist Shabnam Hashmi has said she resigned from all UPA committees on December 27, 2012, demanding “the removal of EVM machines as they can be used for manipulations in the elections and undermining our democracy.” She added, she had also “blamed that someone within UPA has connived with right-wing forces to make it happen.” She claimed, with the victory of the BJP in Lok Sabha polls, her suspicion has only intensified.
In its article, published two days ahead of the counting date (May 16), Huffington Post had suspected that the UPA which might “manipulate” the polls by electronically misusing EVMs. It even quoted BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy for this. The media article said, among concerned citizens who got involved in questioning EVMs was “former minister for law, commerce and justice, Dr. Subramaniam Swamy”. Swami “took up the mantle and went to the Supreme Court of India, winning a ruling that the Indian EVMs would at least have to prove a paper trail.”
Hashmi recalled, she had said in her statement that the “use of EVM machines should be abandoned in any future elections. If Gujarat was used as the laboratory of the hate ideology it can also be used as the laboratory of undermining the democracy in India.” Declaring that she stands by her statement, Hasmir claimed, “The kind of manipulation that was done in the 2012 Gujarat elections could not have been done without the connivance of moles within UPA, involvement of Modi's machinery and foreign agencies.”
“As expected my protests were brushed aside and in private talk some senior artists/ activists who raised these questions were told that Shabnam Hashmi was seeing too much and not to give too much importance to what was being said by her”, the social activist said, adding, “The same modus operandi which was experimented and used in Gujarat has been replicated with precision in the national elections.”
Hashmi added, “All television channels and most of the newspapers were bought to constantly give an impression that Modi was winning over 272 seats and the whole country was behind him, a unique mixture of corporatised Hindutva mixed with development jargon was used and sold to the gullible audiences across the nation. A proxie party was created to demolish UPA and sustained campaigned for three years was supported financially.”
Hashmi further said, UPA was attacked from all sides and what UPA did was totally undermined. While there could be many areas where we strongly differ with UPA's policies, we cannot deny that a huge number of meaningful works were also done.” She quotes from the London School of Economics article (read HERE) to justify what she has said in favour of the UPA, adding, “Unless all political parties do not get together and demand the removal of EVMs then no election will be won by any secular party in future.”
Giving some of the media links which doubt EVMs’ workability, she says, she appeals to “Indian citizens who believe in safeguarding democracy and secularism to impress upon all political parties not to leave any stone unturned to go back to the ballot as the first option, or having EVMs with paper trail, where counting of papers also is mandatory, because while the paper shows individuals whom they have voted for, it does not remove the possibility of post voting manipulation, which is the most used method of manipulations.”
“As the news of EVM manipulations is gaining ground a counter is being said that it was done though booth capturing. It is done to dilute the demand of doing away with EVMs. UPA must find out who from within the system in conniving with right wing”, the social activist said, adding, “All countries which had introduced EVMs have abandoned them. We must do away with EVMs if we have to safeguard democracy. If EVMs are not removed then at least I will never engage with any election process because it is meaningless to campaign, vote or stand in election if the results are doctored.”
Links against EVM machines, quoted by Hashmi:
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDIc6iScQZI&list=UUgdeLVm99ox5SXONOJRAgTghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9U0izoe468 

Comments

Post a Comment

TRENDING

Academics urge Azim Premji University to drop FIR against Student Reading Circle

  By A Representative   A group of academics and civil society members has issued an open letter to the leadership of Azim Premji University expressing concern over the filing of a police complaint that led to an FIR against a student-run reading circle following a recent incident of violence on campus. The signatories state that they hold the university in high regard for its commitment to constitutional values, critical inquiry and ethical public engagement, and argue that it is precisely because of this reputation that the present development is troubling.
Post a Comment
»

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

  By Rajiv Shah   This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.
1 comment
»

UAPA action against Telangana activist: Criminalising legitimate democratic activity?

By A Representative   The National Investigation Agency's Hyderabad branch has issued notices to more than ten individuals in Telangana in connection with FIR No. RC-04/2025. Those served include activists, former student leaders, civil rights advocates, poets, writers, retired schoolteachers, and local leaders associated with the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Indian National Congress. 
Post a Comment
»

Love letters in a lifelong war: Babusha Kohli’s resistance in verse

By Ravi Ranjan*  “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Bertrand Russell’s words echo hauntingly in our times, and few contemporary Hindi poets embody this truth as profoundly as Babusha Kohli. Emerging from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Kohli has carved a unique space in literature by weaving together tenderness, protest, and philosophy across poetry, prose, and cinema. Her work is not merely artistic expression—it is resistance, refuge, and a call for peace.
Post a Comment
»

Asbestos contamination in children’s products highlights global oversight gaps

By A Representative   A commentary published by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) has drawn attention to the challenges governments face in responding effectively to global public-health risks. In an article written by Laurie Kazan-Allen and published on March 5, 2026, the author examines how the discovery of asbestos contamination in children’s play products has raised questions about regulatory oversight and international product safety. The article opens by reflecting on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that governments in several countries were slow to respond to early warning signs of the crisis. Referring to the experience of the United Kingdom, the author writes that delays in implementing protective measures contributed to “232,112 recorded deaths and over a million people suffering from long Covid.” The commentary uses this example to illustrate what it describes as the dangers of underestimating emerging threats. Attention then turns...
Post a Comment
»

Aligning too closely with U.S., allies, India’s silence on IRIS Dena raises troubling questions

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  The reported sinking of the Iranian ship IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka raises troubling questions about international norms and the credibility of the so-called rule-based order. If indeed the vessel was attacked by the American Navy while returning from a joint exercise in Visakhapatnam, it would represent a serious breach of trust and a violation of the principles that govern such cooperative engagements. Warships participating in these exercises are generally not armed for combat; they are meant to symbolize solidarity and friendship. The incident, therefore, is not only shocking but also deeply ironic.
Post a Comment
»

The kitchen as prison: A feminist elegy for domestic slavery

By Garima Srivastava* Kumar Ambuj stands as one of the most incisive voices in contemporary Hindi poetry. His work, stripped of ornamentation, speaks directly to the lived realities of India’s marginalized—women, the rural poor, and those crushed under invisible forms of violence. His celebrated poem “Women Who Cook” (Khānā Banātī Striyāṃ) is not merely about food preparation; it is a searing indictment of patriarchal domestic structures that reduce women’s existence to endless, unpaid labour.
Post a Comment
»

India’s foreign policy at crossroads: Cost of silence in the face of aggression

By Venkatesh Narayanan, Sandeep Pandey  The widely anticipated yet unprovoked attack on Iran on March 1 by the United States and Israel has drawn sharp criticism from several quarters around the world. Reports indicate that the strikes have resulted in significant civilian casualties, including 165 elementary school girls, 20 female volleyball players, and many other civilians. 
Post a Comment
»

India’s green energy push faces talent crunch amidst record growth at 16% CAGR

By Jag Jivan*  A new study by a top consulting firm has found that India’s cleantech sector is entering a decisive growth phase, with strong policy backing, record capacity additions and surging investor interest, but facing mounting pressure on talent supply and rising compensation costs .
Post a Comment
»