SHILLONG: For the first time, the Tibetan community of in Shillong have been officially granted the right to exercise their franchise in the Lok Sabha elections scheduled for Wednesday following the Election Commission of India’s order to all states to include the names of Tibetans in the respective electoral list.
The EC’s move comes in the wake of a Karnataka High Court order in August 2013, which paved the way for granting Indian citizenship to Tibetan refugees. The EC has mentioned that children of Tibetan refugees born in India between January 26, 1950 and 1987, as mentioned in the Citizenship Act 1955, can no longer be denied enrollment in voters’ list.
While hailing the EC decision, some members of the Tibetan community lamented that they often encounter problems while visiting offices in Shillong. “Even if we show our EPIC in Government offices, we are asked many questions,” a member of the Tibetan community said on Tuesday.