EC: Chakma issue may hurt polls
NEW DELHI: The Election Commission may not be able to hold elections in parts of Arunachal Pradesh till Chakma issue is resolved.
In a letter to the Prime Minister's Office early this month, the EC had warned that the Chakma issue could "snowball into a volatile poll issue" and requested it to solve the problem "amicably and expeditiously".
But EC officials say there has been no response from the government so far. "The ball is in government's court...We are waiting," an EC official said.
Despite a Supreme Court order of 1996 that the Central and the state government should settle the Chakma issue and a Delhi High Court order of 2000 that Chakmas born in India after their settlement in the state but before July 1, 1987, are citizens of India, the Arunachal Pradesh cabinet passed a resolution on May 14, 2003, not permitting their enrolment in the voters' list.
The EC's letter to the PMO highlights the fact that even the electoral registration officers of four assembly constituencies — Doimukh, Chowkham, Bordumsa-Diyum and Miao where nearly 60,000 Chakmas live — "are not abiding by the direction of the EC to include Chakmas in the electoral rolls".
On January 2, the EC issued an order that it "shall not be able to conduct any election in these four assembly constituencies unless the state authorities, including the electoral registration officers, comply with the commission's direction".
The Chakmas came from Bangladesh as refugees in 1964 and were settled by the Indian government in Arunachal Pradesh, among other areas.
Citizenship for them has been hanging fire since then. After the Delhi HC order, the EC expressed concern about their enrolment as voters.
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