Reang refugees refuse to cast vote
Reang refugees shout slogan against the Election Commission of India in protest against the missing of names of voters from voters list and proper ballot papers in place of postal ballots in Kanchanpur area, 200 km northeast of Agartala on November 26. (UB Photos)
Aizawl | November 26 : Accusing that there have been discrepancies in ballot papers, over 8,000 Reang refugees who are staying in refugee camps in Tripura and Mizoram, stayed away today from casting votes as a mark of protest. Though the people of Mizoram will go to poll on December 2, the Election Commission of India had fixed November 26 and 27 for the postal ballot voting.
There are at present six refugee camps of the Reangs in Tripura and two of them in Mizoram. Regarding today's development, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Mizoram said that the Reangs' decision not to cast vote was to protest against the absence of party symbols against the names of the candidates in ballot papers.
It is worth noting that following the pressure from the Mizoram government on the Election Commission of India (ECI), the latter had decided to have postal ballot for the Reang refugees who are in Tripura and in the remote areas of Mizoram. There are altogether 8,226 eligible voters of Reang refugees in these two states. The postal ballot voting will very much help the Reang refugees to be able to cast their votes without facing any hardship.
In the past, Reang refugees had to track all the way from Tripura to Mizoram just to cast their votes. Because of this reason most of these refugees failed to participate in the past elections. The introduction of postal ballot voting will not only reduce the hardship of the Reang refugees but it also will save money for the voters.
Talking to NNN, the Joint CEO of Mizoram, said the Reang refugees will not be able to vote even tomorrow, the last day of the casting of postal ballots though new papers with necessary rectifications are being printed. The Reangs, also called the Brus have been staying in the refugee camps in Tripura in the past 11 years following the communal clash with the Mizos. It has been reported that over 35,000 Reangs are sheltered in Tripura.
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