Why is the suspicion on Assam residents?

FROM OUR STAFF CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG, April 3: The NGOs' strong opposition to applicants of the Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) especially those from Assam are due to fear of confirming the citizenship of suspected illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. This was made known by the President of the Khasi Students Union (KSU), Daniel Khyriem, even as he dwelt on the importance of checking the rise in numbers of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants into the State of Meghalaya.

The KSU along with other social organizations have vehemently opposed the direct acceptance of the forms through the special facilitation centre constituted by the district authorities as mandated by the Election Commission of India.

Justifying the opposition that forced the authorities to shut down such centre, Khyriem said, "We learnt from our counterparts like the All Assam Students Union (AASU) that there are people who fangs out in the me of Assam when they are not genuinely from the state."

Claiming that quite a lot of them have used the tag of the neighbouring state to enroll themselves as the electorates of the state, the KSU President stated, "It is only imperative for us to prevent the authorities from carrying any random enrolment on the basis of certain papers issued by some local bodies."

The NRC has not completed in Assam and the doubts on the so called residents of Assam is further compounded, stated Khyriem while vowing to oppose any arbitrary decision of the district administration to carry out the registrations without proper scrutiny at the village and polling booth level.

Even as the Deputy Commissioner of East Khasi Hills Sanjay Goyal said that the ongoing registration through the special facilitation centre is a continuous exercise as mandated by the Election Commission of India, the social organisations virtually said 'no'.