SHILLONG, JUL 3: The Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) on Friday expressed “big concern” over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, warning that the exclusion of even a single indigenous tribal voter would be “very much wrong.”
“We have attended the meeting with respect to this Special Intensive Revision of the electoral roll. We have studied the provisions of the SIR also, and of course, we would express big concern with respect to the SIR,” KHNAM working president Thomas Passah told reporters.
“At the end of the day, the base of this SIR is the electoral roll of 2005. They are taking data from the last electoral roll conducted in 2005,” he said.
Passah cautioned against leaving out genuine residents. “Now, many people who are genuine residents of the state, especially the indigenous tribes — it will be wrong if a single indigenous tribal is left out of the SIR. It will be very much wrong,” he said.
He also raised apprehension over the distribution of enumeration forms. “We have seen reports that the enumeration form is being given to a politician, which means the politician or a political party might use it for their political benefit, and we have areas that are very complicated,” Passah said.
Citing 18-West Shillong constituency, he said: “18-West Shillong constituency is an area where the indigenous tribes are minority voters, and how did they become a minority? It is very surprising. If you go back in time, of course, the indigenous tribes were the majority residents of that area, but slowly, the indigenous tribes have become a minority in the electoral process.”
“So we are very fearful that maybe the indigenous tribes will be left out of the SIR, and if that happens, it will be a big blow to the governance system or political picture in the state of Meghalaya,” he added. Passah said KHNAM would be “sending a letter to the CEO to ensure proper verification is done.”
On non-indigenous electors, he said: “With respect to the electors who are not indigenous tribes, it is proven and it is known — if not on document — that most of these voters who are not from the state have another EPIC in their concerned states of origin. They go and vote in their states of origin also, and when the election comes in Meghalaya, they also vote here, which means they are having dual EPICs, and dual EPICs are illegal as per guidelines of the Election Commission of India.”
“We request the election department, while carrying out this SIR, to ensure that all these people who already have EPICs in their state of origin have their names deleted from the SIR,” he said.
Passah urged citizens to remain vigilant.
“We request all citizens, especially indigenous citizens of the state, to please take this SIR process very seriously and please ensure that your name is included in the SIR final roll, because if it is not included, it will bring difficulty to the generations to come when the next SIR is conducted in the state of Meghalaya,” he said.
“We will be following up this SIR process very closely, and on any new development, we will be writing to the election department in the state of Meghalaya,” Passah added.
By Our Reporter
