Subdued dissent over fixing Sunday as polling day
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: January 21, 2022 -
HAD there been no restrictions imposed on election-related activities, then there is strong possibility that speeches of seasoned as well as rookie politicians would give ample space to the appeals being made by Christian organisations, few individuals and churches to reschedule the first phase polling date of February 27, which falls on Sunday, a day reserved for prayer.
With representatives of political parties indulging in levelling charges and counter-charges through the media to demean the rivals with an eye on projecting self as the better option before the adult franchisees, religious sentiment of the Christian communities seem to be no more a priority.
Apart from negligible number of political parties endorsing suggestion by some Christian groups and intending candidates to hold the first phase election on any day other than a Sunday, there has been no official statement about intimation sent to the Election Commission of India, to uphold religious sentiment of the Christian population.
Interestingly, prominent political figures of the state from among the Christian population too seem indifferent to the religious sentiment of their own people.
The only plausible reason for such subdued expression of dissent over the polling date could either be on the basis that the remaining Christian-dominated assembly constituencies will go to the polls in the second phase on March 3 (Thursday) or due to differences in ethnicity and socio-political aspirations of the people among those settling in the assembly segments listed for the first and the second phase, in-spite of voters in the hill districts being predominantly believers of Christianity faith.
Amid such lack of unison, lukewarm reaction to the ECI decision and apparent hypocrisy within the Christian fraternity, former MP & MLA BD Behring recently urged the ECI and the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manipur to 'rearrange' the date of polling for nine hill assembly constituencies from the previously set date of February 27.
Pointing out that huge majority of the population in the nine assembly constituencies are Christians, Behring in his letter addressed to the CEO, pointed out that for bonafide residents of Saikul, Kangpokpi, Saitu, Tipaimukh, Thanlon, Henglep, Churachandpur, Saikot and Singhat assembly segments which are reserved for the Christian scheduled tribes, fixing the poll date on Sunday is against the religious sentiment of the community.
The same grievances of the Christian community over the prospect of casting votes on a Sunday were also reflected in the memorandum of All Manipur Christian Organisation addressed to the election conducting authorities.
Along with emphasising on the need to uphold the principles of the Indian Constitution which clearly describe India as a Sovereign, Socialist and Secular Democratic Republic, both BD Behring and AMCO proposed revision of the earlier order or to club all the assembly constituencies having Christian majority population in the second phase polling.
The proposal to either reschedule the first phase polling day on a non-Sunday or include the nine ACs in the second phase cannot be dismissed without assigning a valid reason thereof, as the ECI had on January 16 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.
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