We are not outsiders, let us vote: Manipur refugees

IMPHAL/NEW DELHI: “Don’t treat us like outsiders”. Forced to leave their state after clashes broke out last year, that’s the impassioned plea from Manipuris who fled to other parts of the country to escape the violence and long to vote in the Lok Sabha election but can’t because there is no such provision.

Displaced people living in relief camps in conflict-hit Manipur will be able to vote in the upcoming elections beginning April 19. However, there is no such arrangement for those outside the state unable to return home because they feel it’s still not safe. And officials say getting them to vote is just not feasible.

Manipur has traditionally seen a very high voter turnout with more than 82 per cent polling recorded in the 2019 elections. This time, the ethnic violence has cast a shadow with several civil society groups and displaced people questioning the relevance of holding elections in the current circumstances.

As leaders of both the Kuki-Zo and Meitei groups take up the issue with the Election Commission, those who took shelter outside the state say they have stakes in the future of Manipur and should be allowed to vote through postal ballots if no other arrangement can be made.

Biren Chandam, a Manipuri now living in Delhi says, “I came to Delhi and found a job here while my family moved to neighbouring Mizoram. We long to go back to our house which may or may not be existing right now but we cannot vote for our state. Why?

“The elections should either be postponed or some arrangements should be made for us to vote from wherever we are. We are being made to feel as outsiders in our own home state. Don’t make us feel like outsiders,” he said. Kumthai, a tribal from Manipur now living in a relief camp in Mizoram, echoed him.

“We took refuge in a separate state because our state was burning. Eleven months later, the situation is still not conducive to return. Unless we vote for the right person to take the right steps for us, how can we come out of this situation,” he said.

Ten Manipur MLAs belonging to the Kuki-Zo community earlier this month asked the Election Commission to let displaced members of the community scattered beyond the state to vote from wherever they have taken shelter across the country. According to officials in the state government, it is not possible to extend the vote facility to those outside the state.

It is not possible to extend the vote facility to those outside the state, say govt officials