Sukumar Sarkar, Dhaka: Bangladesh has the largest refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar. Where millions of Myanmar’s Rohingyas have taken refuge. How many of them got the right to vote? Now the High Court wanted to know that information. The report has been ordered to be submitted by June 6.
It is learned that a bench consisting of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Kazi Zeenat Haque gave this order on Wednesday regarding the preliminary hearing of a writ petition. The writ petitioner told the court that since 2016, the public representatives of Eidgaon Union Parishad of Eidgaon Upazila of Cox’s Bazar had given citizenship to numerous Rohingyas by giving them voter cards in exchange for money. Those Rohingyas were prepared with fake addresses, fake parents and fake documents.
[আরও পড়ুন: বাংলাদেশের মানবাধিকার নিয়ে কড়া সমালোচনা আমেরিকার! ফের সংঘাতে জড়াবে দুদেশ?]
As no action was taken in this incident, a local resident complained to the concerned authorities mentioning the names of 38 Rohingyas. An investigation was initiated based on that complaint. Finally, on October 29, 2023, a report found that 35 out of 38 Rohingyas were found to be true. But despite that, no steps have been taken to remove the names of Rohingyas from the voter list. The Union Parishad election schedule was announced keeping Rohingya voters.
Muhammad Siddiq Ullah Mia, the lawyer of the writ petitioner, said in the media, “The court has ordered to exclude the names of Rohingyas proven in that investigation from the voter list. At the same time, it has been asked to investigate how many Rohingyas have voted in the entire Cox’s Bazar district and submit a report to the court on June 6. The court has given this order to the three defendants including the District Commissioner of Cox’s Bazar.
[আরও পড়ুন: মায়ানমারে এখনও নেভেনি সংঘর্ষের আগুন, বাংলাদেশে প্রবেশের অপেক্ষায় হাজার হাজার রোহিঙ্গা]
Tags: Rohingya voters Coxs Bazar Bangladesh High Court called report
