Diphu April 10: Amid the clamor of Assam Assembly Election 2016, a group of young boys and girls who chose a democratic way of life in 2011 after a decade-long violent life as KLNLF cadres, were unable to exercise their voting rights.
The KLNLF (Karbi Longri N C Hills Liberation Front), the dreaded Karbi militant organization, after coming out from underground, handed over its stockpile of weapons to the government and joined the process of dialog.
Nearly 170 cadres of this outfit who by showing the way to peace to all other militant organizations of Karbi Anglong are using peaceful methods to fulfill their cherished demand. It has been this way for the past 5 years. They remain confined inside a designated camp located near the well-known Karbi People’s Hall, around 5 kilometers from Diphu town.
KLNLF Cadres Excluded From Voting for Assam Assembly
Did Authorities Forget KLNLF Cadres?
“We were expecting that like previous occasions, the polling officials will arrive in our camp and we will be able to establish our democratic right. We waited in vain. No one turned-up. Probably the authority has forgot us,” one of the cadres told this correspondent.
A resident said that in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, authorities made a separate arrangement. Most cadres who are not allowed to venture outside exercised their franchise were able to vote.
The postal ballot cell of the Deputy Commissioner’s office, Karbi Anglong could not be contacted to learn the cause of the lapse.
