Christian our bodies in Tripura stated they have been “shocked” and “disappointed” on the State Election Commission’s choice to schedule the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) polls on Easter Day (April 4).
In a press release issued on Thursday, Father Joseph Pulinthanath, spokesperson for the Diocese of Agartala, stated, “The scheduled date of elections, 4th April, 2021, falls on Easter Sunday, which is the culmination of the weeklong obligatory observance of faith for all Christians around the world. Elections held on Easter Sunday would certainly hamper their whole-hearted participation in the electoral process.”
The Diocese has requested the SEC to reschedule the dates in order that it doesn’t conflict with the spiritual practices of a group.
The United Christian Forum for Human Rights, too, issued a press release saying, “We celebrate Easter Day on that day. We want to register our objection to the declared date (April 4) and request you to kindly change it.”
Reacting to the statements, SEC secretary, Prasenjit Bhattacharya, stated the ballot physique is but to obtain any letter on the problem. “We haven’t received any letter requesting a change in date of the TTAADC elections. As such, we can’t comment anything about it now,” Bhattacharya added.
The state Congress has additionally been protesting in opposition to the schedule, saying it was ready to “deprive” a bit of voters on the premise of their spiritual id.
“It’s unfortunate that the SEC has fixed the poll date on a Festive day. This casts a doubt that the SEC dances to the tunes of govt with a design to deprive a section of voters who belong to a religious minority. Urge to change the poll date,” state Congress vp, Tapas Dey, tweeted.
The opposition CPIM has additionally appealed to the election fee to look at the problem and take into account altering the dates if the calls for maintain any worth.
“If their demands are correct, the state election commission should examine the issue and consider it,” Tripura Left Front convener, Bijan Dhar, advised indianexpress.com.
When requested about his social gathering’s tackle the problem, BJP spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharjee stated he can’t remark something for the time being because the matter hasn’t been mentioned amongst their leaders but.
