Meghalaya Assembly Elections 2018: In this village on the Indo-Bangladesh border, voting rights still elude some

Forty years after Meghalaya became a state, in a quiet corner on the Indo-Bangladesh border, a community of over 120 people have been waging a monumental battle — of being given basic voting rights.

In Pyrdiwah village, which falls under the Pynursla block of East Khasi Hills district, people of the adivasi community have been waging this war for decades now. Most of the adivasis from the tea tribe community that reside here crossed over to India from Bangladesh. And yet here, in a country that they call home, the community is denied voting rights.

A sign listing the rules, signed by the village ‘dorbar’ – Amrita Madhukalya/DNA Photo

The unmissable fault-line lies between the local Khasi-Garo and the tea tribe-Bengali population. Ajit Rai, one of the community’s brightest men, says that when they approach the state authorities for an Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC), they are asked for birth certificates. In a village where births are conducted at home, even today, certificates were in short supply when he was growing up. He has made sure that his children have birth certificates today. The idea that the local Khasi population is not allowing for the IDs to be made runs deep.

Headman Gary Francis …read more