Voter list preparation in CHT

It may be noted here that the CHT Regional Council had submitted draft of the electoral roll to the previous Awami government. Also there had been several national voter lists to date, as many times as there were elections, of which, quite naturally, the CHT voters have been a part and parcel. So, there is a good data-base for a voter list to be drawn up for the CHT. Here too those who have died since would need to be deleted and those who became eligible for voting on reaching 18 years of age would need to be added.

There are two advantages in respect of having a proper voter list in CHT: first, these people are not migratory; they have fixed domicile, although for jhum cultivation they change places temporarily; and secondly, they have easily identifiable physical features. So, there is no reason whatsoever for any inaccurate voter list in the hilly region.

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One wonders if the 30 thousand Rohingya refugees can be registered as voters as alleged. They are none other than outsiders and temporary refugees with foreign nationality. Why anyone of the indigenous people of the CHT who are permanent residents of the region and have lived there for ages should have difficulties registering as legitimate voters? We are also highly concerned that many of the indigenous people as alleged by Larma are afraid of even going near the polling booths for fear of their safety and security. This needs to be gone into.

There is no denying the fact that full and proper inclusion of the names of the indigenous people of the region in the voter list will go a long way in resolving some of the other related issues too. The EC should take corrective measures as quickly as possible. Needless to say that time is running out.