ITANAGAR, Dec 3: The All Papum Pare District Students’ Union (APPDSU) has appealed to the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) of Balijan circle not to include the names of Chakma voters in the fresh electoral rolls of the Doimukh Assembly Constituency.
The APPDSU made its appeal apprehending that the Chakmas and Hajongs might claim inclusion of their names in the electoral rolls for the panchayat and the general elections.
In a representation to the ERO, the union vehemently opposed the inclusion of names of Chakma and Hajong voters in the electoral rolls on the grounds that they (the Chakma) are illegal migrants from erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and were declared foreigners by the Gauhati High Court in a verdict in 1992, which was later upheld by the Supreme Court in 1993.
Since the Chakmas have been declared foreigners, they are ineligible to be included in the electoral rolls under Section 16 (1) (a) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, Section 107 (1) (a) of the Arunachal Pradesh Panchayat Raj Act, 1997, and Rule 9 (1) (a) of the Arunachal Pradesh Panchayat Raj (Preparation of Electoral Roll) Rules, 2002, the APPDSU said in its representation.
The SLPs filed by the AAPSU and the state government after the Supreme Court had directed the central as well as the state government to grant citizenship to Chakmas and Hajongs residing in the state are also still lying pending with the court for hearing, the representation said.
Further, it said, the verification of the 4637 Chakma and Hajong people who have applied for conferment of citizenship is still under process, and the PIL filed by one Amal Kumar Chakma and eight others for inclusion of names of Chakmas and Hajongs in the electoral roll is also lying pending at the Itanagar Permanent Bench of the Gauhati High Court.
