Voting right for expatriate Bangladeshis
Dr Raihan Hossain, Australia
The news that the Election Commission is considering giving right to the Bangladeshi expatriates to vote in the election must be taken with a grain of salt. It is widely known how divided the Bangladeshi communities are already along the lines of political affiliation, internal fighting, creation of political party chapters without the approval of the governments, and widespread absence of trust among the community members. We do not want more division. We want our children and ourselves to remain out of the mainstream of Bangladeshi politics and concentrate on the work we are happy with. To have political consciousness is not the same as engaging in politics directly or supporting a group or the other in Bangladesh through exercising the voting right. We are happy to be called Bangladeshi Americans, or Bangladeshi Canadians or Bangladeshi Australians. This decision of the EC will certainly help new parties or other civil society oriented groups to command huge votes in their favour from the 77 lakh or more voters but will this do justice to Bangladesh? The voice of the downtrodden in Bangladesh, our 'khete khaoa manusher' vote should not be hijacked by the expatriate Bangladeshis, many of whom do not even care about the country's future, let alone being able to read or write Bangla. The EC must also consult with the governments of the foreign countries before such voting rights are granted as some countries do not allow such rights for its citizens who may be allowed a dual citizenship but not a dual voting right. Australia is one such country. Please do your homework before jumping to please a section of the expatriate Bangladeshis. Do not divide our happy community. The news of this voting right has overnight caused some tension among the community groups in Australia. This should not happen.
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