Protestor in front of the Kolasib DC office against over the alleged illegal enrollment of Bru voters on November 14.
Newmai News Network
Aizawl | November 14
Protesters in Mizoram-Assam border town Kolasib burnt the effigy of District Election Officer (DEO) who is also deputy commissioner of Kolasib district, Dr Arun T, as the demand for the removal of the officer over the alleged illegal enrollment of Bru voters intensified on Wednesday.
Irritated by the alleged action of the poll official, a large number of people under the aegis of NGO Coordination Committee of Kolasib district unit, staged demonstration and picketed in front of the DC office demanding the removal of the officer for allegedly enrolling 218 new Bru voters without conducting a hearing and physical verification.
This is the second time people were staging demonstration against the poll official.
During the demonstration the irate mob burnt the effigy of Arun T However, there was no untoward incident during the protest, which was held till 3 pm, police said.
Earlier, the NGO Coordination Committee, a conglomerate of civil society groups and student bodies had served eviction order to the DC and asked him to leave the town by 5 pm of Tuesday.
The committee alleged that the poll official had enrolled 218 Brus lodged at six relief camps in Tripura without conducting a hearing and ascertaining whether they were bona fide residents of Mizoram.
The NGO committee claimed that the Bru voters were earlier rejected by the Election Returning Officer (ERO) and Assistant Election Returning Officer (AERO) after they failed to appear for hearing. The NGO committee had also demanded the DC to delete the names of Bru voters from the electoral roll.
In a letter sent to Governor, Kummanam Rajasekharan and Chief Secretary, Arvind Ray, the NGO committee said that the people of Kolasib district “do not have confidence in the DC to conduct assembly elections under his supervision”. It also accused Arun T of “lying to the people in illegally enrolling the Bru voters”.
On Tuesday, leaders of Young Mizo Association (YMA) led by its vice president, R Lalngheta met the DC and asked him to apologise to the public.
Meanwhile, Dr Arun T had reportedly told a section of media that he was simply following the rules as laid down by the Election Commission. Claiming that he did not commit any ‘illegal’ thing in enrolling the Bru voters in Tripura, the official said the Gauhati High Court will decide the matter as a PIL had been already filed by the NGOs and the ECI will delete the Bru voters if they were illegally enrolled.
Meanwhile, the Mizoram Government sent a delegation of Mizoram Kohhran Hruaitute Committee (MKHC), a conglomerate of 15 major churches in the state to Kolasib to hold talks with the NGO Coordination Committee of Kolasib district unit, sources said.
