Pressure on Meghalaya council to prepare tribal-only poll rolls

GUWAHATI

Several pressure groups have petitioned the chief of a tribal council in Meghalaya to amend existing laws and create a separate electoral roll for the council elections, excluding non-tribal voters. 

The elections to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC), scheduled for April 10, were postponed following violence related to nominations filed by non-tribal candidates, mostly Bengali-speaking Muslims. Two people were killed in March after the police opened fire on mobs that went on the rampage in the Chibinang area of the State’s West Garo Hills district.