Mail Today
March 26, 2009
Kandhamal victims want polls deferred
By Mail Today Bureau in New Delhi
Claim 22,000 displaced persons will not be able to cast vote
VICTIMS of the Kandhamal riots in Orissa have urged the Election Commission ( EC) to postpone polling in the violence- hit district, saying a large number of displaced persons would not be able to vote.
A delegation of victims, led by social activist Teesta Setalvad, met EC officials in this regard on Wednesday.
Expressing fear that bogus votes could be cast in the name of displaced persons, the victims appealed to the EC to defer polling in the Phulbani parliamentary segment and Bariguda, Phulbani and Udaigiri Assembly constituencies, that were affected by the violence.
Assembly polls are being held in the state in two phases on April 16 and 23 along with the Lok Sabha polls.
According to official figures, about 3,100 persons are living in relief camps in the wake of the anti- Christian violence last year following the killing of Swami Laxmananand Saraswati.
But the victims claimed that 22,000 people were still missing and they would be deprived of their franchise unless the EC took special measures to ensure that the displaced persons cast their vote.
The poll panel is understood to have directed Orissa’s chief electoral officer Alka Panda to look into the complaint and tally the identity of the displaced persons with the electoral rolls. Of the 6.56 lakh voters in the district, 1.14 lakh are Christians.
Some of the riot- affected women, brought to Delhi by Setalvad’s NGO Citizens for Justice and Peace, gave a first- hand account of their harrowing experiences. They alleged that the situation is still tense as hate speeches are being made to polarise voters along communal lines.
For 35- year- old Priyatama Naik, elections hold little meaning as life is a daily struggle against poverty, deprivation and Hindu fundamentalism.
A mob burnt her husband Abhimanyu alive in front of her eyes in Barapali village. Unable to give a decent burial to Abhimanyu, Priyatama sat by the body for four days, helplessly watching it being dismembered and eaten by hungry canines.
After she finally managed to bury him with help of villagers, Abhimanyu’s body was exhumed some days later for a postmortem.
“ Despite my husband naming the culprits in his dying declaration and an FIR being lodged, precious little has been done. I was threatened not to cast the ballot,” she said.
“ There is no help from the police or the government. What is the meaning of taking part in an election if the whole system has failed?” Another woman, Nurna Digal, said: “ Official records last September indicated 25,173 people were languishing in relief camps. But a month later, the government claimed only 10,000 people were present there. The latest claim is that only 3,000 people are taking shelter in these camps. Where are the missing 22,000 voters?” Kadamfula Naik alleged that government officials were forcing refugees like her to leave relief camps in exchange of Rs 10,000.
“ My husband was butchered with a sword. My land was forcibly seized and the rioters are refusing to let me return to my village unless I convert,” she said.
The delegation demanded that the state government should not forcibly close the relief camps and that there should be a proper assessment of the human loss and damages in 300 villages.
“ Special courts should be set up under the National Human Rights Commission to deal with the riot cases and book the guilty,” a statement from the delegation said.
|
