Agartala: About 7,500 Reang refugees are eligible to exercise their franchise in the ensuing Mizoram Assembly election on November 26 in six camps of North Tripura, where they have been living for a decade.
State Election officials here on Sunday said, as per the Election Commission’s (EC) instruction, the refugees would cast their votes in advance through postal ballots and both the Tripura and Mizoram Election Departments would be engaged in the exercise.
The officials, however, stated that the Mizoram Government would send officials with ballot papers, while other logistics would be provided by Tripura to conduct a smooth election in the camps from 0800 hrs to 1600 hrs on the day.
In the previous elections, including the last Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections, the EC had set up a separate booth along the border in Tripura and Mizoram and as a result, most of the voters could not exercise their franchise.
About 35,000 Reang refugees were living at Kanchanpur subdivision in North Tripura since 1997, following the ethnic clash in Mamit district of Western Mizoram. Neither the Centre nor the Mizoram Government was sincere to solve the decade-old problem and to fulfil the commitment.
Meanwhile, Reang refugees, displaced from western Mizoram in 1997, had indicated to support against the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF).
Elvis Chorkhy, president of the Mizoram Bru Displaced People's Forum alleged that despite repeated initiatives, the Zoramthanga government had not responded properly to take back the refugees, rather refused to recognise them as residents of Mizoram. As a result, about 7,800 eligible voters could not enroll their names in the list.
Militant-outfit-turned-political-party, the MNF had been ruling the State for the past 10 years. But was reluctant to take back the Reang refugees, which prompted them to organise a series of agitations over the years.
After 14 rounds of talks, the Mizoram government and Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF) had signed an agreement in April 2005 to resolve the ethnic crisis, leading to the surrender of about 1,040 militants belonging to the BNLF and the Bru Liberation Front of Mizoram. (UNI)
State Election officials here on Sunday said, as per the Election Commission’s (EC) instruction, the refugees would cast their votes in advance through postal ballots and both the Tripura and Mizoram Election Departments would be engaged in the exercise.
The officials, however, stated that the Mizoram Government would send officials with ballot papers, while other logistics would be provided by Tripura to conduct a smooth election in the camps from 0800 hrs to 1600 hrs on the day.
In the previous elections, including the last Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections, the EC had set up a separate booth along the border in Tripura and Mizoram and as a result, most of the voters could not exercise their franchise.
About 35,000 Reang refugees were living at Kanchanpur subdivision in North Tripura since 1997, following the ethnic clash in Mamit district of Western Mizoram. Neither the Centre nor the Mizoram Government was sincere to solve the decade-old problem and to fulfil the commitment.
Meanwhile, Reang refugees, displaced from western Mizoram in 1997, had indicated to support against the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF).
Elvis Chorkhy, president of the Mizoram Bru Displaced People's Forum alleged that despite repeated initiatives, the Zoramthanga government had not responded properly to take back the refugees, rather refused to recognise them as residents of Mizoram. As a result, about 7,800 eligible voters could not enroll their names in the list.
Militant-outfit-turned-political-party, the MNF had been ruling the State for the past 10 years. But was reluctant to take back the Reang refugees, which prompted them to organise a series of agitations over the years.
After 14 rounds of talks, the Mizoram government and Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF) had signed an agreement in April 2005 to resolve the ethnic crisis, leading to the surrender of about 1,040 militants belonging to the BNLF and the Bru Liberation Front of Mizoram. (UNI)
No comments:
Post a Comment