HC Sought List Of Rohingya Voters In Cox's Bazar

The High Court (HC) has asked the concerned parties to submit a list showing how many Rohingyas have been made voters fraudulently in Cox's Bazar. At the time, the High Court also ordered to exclude 35 Rohingyas from the existing voter list.

A High Court Division Bench consisting of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Kazi Zeenat Haque passed the order today following the preliminary hearing of a writ petition in this regard. "Since 2016, with the connivance of the Chairman of Eidgaon Union Parishad of Eidgaon upazila of Cox's Bazar and some powerful so-called public representatives, at least 370 Rohingyas were given multiple fake documents including birth registration and voter ID cards in exchange for money," said lawyer Mohammad Siddiq Ullah Mia, also the petitioner of the writ.

"Some of the local residents protested but as no action was taken, a complaint was filed against the accused. The complainant even mentioned names of 38 Rohingyas who got voter ID cards."

According to the documents, the report submitted by police on October 29, 2023 found that 35 out of 38 Rohingyas named in the complaint possessed voter ID cards.

Despite being asked to drop those names, the Union Parishad (UP) election schedule was announced keeping those Rohingya voters in the list. In this regard, a local resident named Mohammad Hamid filed a writ in the High Court.

In the writ, the secretary of the local government department, the chief election commissioner, the election commission secretary, the registrar general and 17 related persons were made respondents.

The High Court today asked the defendants to remove the names from the voter list and submit a report by June 6, and to investigate how many Rohingyas have voter ID cards in Cox's Bazar district._BSS