India, Aug. 17 -- As nation celebrates 79th Independence Day we have reasons to smile and cherish our hard-earned freedom. As world leaders convened in Alaska to discuss peace and harmony on the August 15, I must draw attention to a crisis unfolding right here at home - a crisis that strikes at the very heart of Indian democracy.

While citizens across the globe march for justice and peace, in Bihar, we are witnessing a very different kind of struggle - one that pits ordinary voters against a silent, bureaucratic purge operating under the guise of legality. The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar is not merely administrative exercise. It is a systematic disenfranchisement of lakhs of legitimate voters, carried...