Civil Society Groups Calls Off Strike in Mizoram

Guwahati: The poll-bound state of Mizoram sets back to normalcy after Civil society groups in the state called off their ongoing strike on Wednesday. The NGO Coordination Committee of Mizoram were on a strike demanding the removal of the state’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), SB Shashank, called off the strike after he was summoned to New Delhi for a meeting.

The meeting, which will be held on Thursday, was called by the Election Commission (EC) to take stock of the situation on ground, especially the status of the ongoing agitation in the state.

Noteworthy, all three Election Commissioners met on Wednesday to deliberate on the joint resolution submitted by the NGO Coordination Committee.

“After due deliberations on the resolution, the Commission, while accepting the broad contours of the resolution passed by the All NGO, Mizoram, decided to depute a higher level Election Commission of India (ECI) team led by Deputy Election Commissioner Mr. Sudeep Jain, in-charge of Mizoram to have further discussion on 9th November, 2018 at Aizawl with the representative of All NGO, Mizoram on their Resolution,” the EC informed in a media statement

Although Shashank’s ouster is part of the joint resolution, sources said that the poll panel’s acceptance of the broad contours of the resolution does not mean the former’s removal.

“The higher-level team has been deputed to negotiate with the civil society groups,” a source said on the condition of anonymity.

It may be mentioned that on last Tuesday, more than 40,000 people had taken to the streets of Aizawl, demanding action against Shashank for free and fair conduct of polls.

Talking about the Committee's decision to call off the strike, General Secretary of the central committee of the Young Mizo Association (CYMA) Lalhmachhuana, said, “The strike has been temporarily called off today after Shashank was called to Delhi. We will wait and see what the ECI says and then decide the future course of action.

Lalhmachhuana condemned the Kolasib incident, where protests demanding removal of names of displaced Bru people living in camps in Tripura from the electoral rolls turned violent after protesters reportedly threw stones at the deputy commissioner’s office and at least one security personnel was injured. Terming the incident as unfortunate, he said that the CYMA has sent a delegation of Kolasib for a peaceful resolution of the issue. He further added that the protesters could have been instigated at the behest of political parties.

Expressing its concern over the Tuesday violence, The EC in a statement. said, “The Commission expects that, keeping with the ethos and tradition of peaceful society in Mizoram, all stakeholders will sincerely work together so that no such incident recurs in future during the entire election process and elections are conducted peacefully with maximum participation as always,” it stated.

The protest had garnered in the state after Shashank had complained to the EC of “direct interference” by the state government in the preparation for polls following which the Commission ordered the removal of Mizoram Principal Secretary (Home Department), L Chuaungo.

Also Read : Mizoram: Tension Prevailed After Protest Turned Violent in Kolasib District