The ATSUM said the decision of the election commission to conduct polling on Sunday has invited serious objection from the CSOs and Church organisations in the state. In fact, all the tribal people and thousands of Meitei Christians have taken it as an affront to the Christian community as it has badly hurt their religious sentiment, it added.
TFM Report
Though the Election Commission of India has rescheduled polling in Punjab to February 20 from February 14, following demands from almost all key political parties of Punjab seeking a change on account of Guru Ravi Das Jayanti, which falls on February 16, it has been sitting on demands from civil society organisations to reschedule the polling date of 27 February (Sunday) to another convenient day.
Slamming the election commission for giving cold shoulder to the demands, All Tribal Students’ Union Manipur (ATSUM) said in a statement that ECI’s disinclination is strongly condemnable.
The ATSUM said the decision of the election commission to conduct polling on Sunday has invited serious objection from the CSOs and Church organisations in the state. In fact, all the tribal people and thousands of Meitei Christians have taken it as an affront to the Christian community as it has badly hurt their religious sentiment, it added.
ATSUM further said it had already pointed out that the decision to conduct the poll on Sunday would prevent many citizens from casting their votes as Sunday is a day for rest and worship, and is also considered holy and sacred. Since the election commission espouses participation of all eligible citizens to exercise their adult franchise, ATSUM had opined that it would be in everyone’s interest if the election commission reschedules the polling on a day which will allow maximum people to cast their votes, which will in turn promote the democratic standard of the country, it added.
However, ATSUM lamented that the repeated appeals made to the election commission in this regard seems to have fallen on deft ears and it does not augur well for the ensuing election.
Maintaining that the state government has also failed to understand the wish and desire of the Christian community of the state, ATSUM pointed out that the polling date in Punjab has already been rescheduled with the active support of the state government.
However, the Manipur government fails to exert enough pressure to the election commission, it said adding that if the election commission fails to favourably consider the appeals of the CSOs and Church organisations on or before 10th February, it will be constrained to make an adverse decision which will be detrimental to the smooth conduct of the ensuing election.
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