Rohingyas in voter list

By including the Rohingyas in the electoral roll, the officials have clearly violated the law. Worse still, reports indicate that the officials are being influenced by a political party eager to broaden its support base. The parties and individuals must go by the law when it comes to electioneering of any kind. Foreign nationals cannot be included in the voter list, regardless of where they are living now. The ill motive behind the move becomes all the more clear when we come to learn that many genuine voters in the area have been left out of the list. And if that be true, the "correction" of the voter list is still a distant goal.

The officials and political elements responsible for further bungling of the voter list are actually doing a great disservice to the cause of free and fair election. The Election Commission is expected to act quickly and stop the activities that stand in the way of correcting the list. Already, prospects of holding a free and fair election are badly threatened by the absence of a voter list acceptable to all the parties. Now, the inclusion of Rohingyas, and exclusion of genuine voters, in the electoral roll will create further confusion and doubts in the minds of people and greatly undermine the acceptability of what is being called the "corrected list".

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