Madhesi People´s Rights Forum (Democratic), Madhesi People´s Rights Forum, Tarai Madhes Democratic Party and Sadbhawana Party have warned that they would halt the voters´ registration process in Tarai districts if the decision is not rectified. [break]
MPRF Co-Chairman Jaya Prakash Gupta said the decision has created an environment of ´unexpected tension´ in some parts of the country. “The process of distributing voter identity cards should be stopped right away until the Supreme Court issues the final verdict,” he said.
Gupta said that the EC decision had paved way for ensuring the rights of voters who have not been able to acquire citizenship certificates due to various reasons.
“The process of collecting voter identity cards should be stopped as the government plans to make the document useful for multiple purposes,” Gupta further said.
Joint General Secretary of Tarai Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP) Jitendra Sonar said that the apex court verdict had posed obstructions in creating environment conducive for consensus. “The verdict has hurt us. It is both biased and regressive.”
Sonar said the issue should be settled amicably at the political level after holding a meeting between political leaders and EC officials.
“We strongly protest the decision. The verdict of apex court has made Madhesi people question the relevance of Supreme Court,” Sonar said. “Madhesi people won´t be obliged to comply with the Supreme Court order.”
General Secretary of Sadbhawana Party Anil Kumar Jha said the apex court´s verdict is against Article 8 of the Interim Constitution and provisions of the existing EC regulations. “Those who voted for us in the Constituent Assembly polls should get voter identity cards,” he said. “Madhesi people won´t accept such a decision.”
Madhesi People´s Rights Forum (Democratic) leader Ram Janam Chaudhary said they object to the apex court´s stay order that bars the people who voted in the Constituent Assembly polls from acquiring voter identity cards. “It is not fair to deny voter identity cards to those who cast their votes in the CA polls,” he said.
Meanwhile, the process of issuing voter identity cards in Bara has been halted after MPRF (Democratic) cadres burnt down EC documents related to the voters´ registration process.
A meeting between Chief District Officer Basant Kumar and EC officials took a decision to this effect fearing negative fallout of the verdict.
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