Letters in Vain?

Below is a letter I wrote to "The Hindu" recently expressing my disappointment at being disenfranchised from India's electoral process on account of being unable to be physically present at a polling booth in India.



Rāhul 14 April 2009 16:21
To: letters@thehindu.co.in

Sir,

This is with reference to the insightful opinion piece "Overseas citizen: A horse with no name" by Abhinav Chandrachud published online in The Hindu. I am an Indian citizen pursuing graduate studies in the USA. As a keen follower of India's social climate and retaining my rightful stake in its destiny, I have been keenly following national politics and was eagerly looking forward to being able to cast an absentee ballot in the lok sabha elections. Being already on the electoral rolls, I contacted the Indian Consulate in New York, and was told that absentee ballots were available only for diplomats and election workers and pointed to the law ministry's website. On expressing my disappointment with this rule, which in my opinion disenfranchises me, I was told to write to the relevant state election commissioner. The kerala state election commissioner has not yet replied to my email.

As Mr. Chandrachud pithily deconstructs in his article, this rule undermines the most basic right of citizenship in a democracy, that of equal right to suffrage. Holding an Indian passport and considered for all other purposes as an Indian, there seems to be no argument, but the economic one, for denying Indian students studying abroad the vote. But as Mr. Chandrachud elaborated, the economic argument should be secondary to our responsibility to live up to the spirit of the most basic tenets of our democracy. Applying the economic argument indiscriminately is a sure way to give up everything we hold dear in society and a spiral into the abyss.

In this crucial period of history when great civilisations of the past are beginning to take their rightful place in the world, India is not well served by unfair laws that sever the emotional and intellectual ties Indian students maintain with the country while abroad in pursuit of higher education. Opening up suffrage to Indians living abroad will even make economic sense when one considers how the consequent stake in Indian society and democracy it will nurture in them will be a strong factor in whether they choose to pursue their future careers and create knowledge and wealth in India.

thanking you,
yours truly

Rahul Potera
Graduate Student
Rutgers Univ. Dept. of Electrical Engg.
Piscataway, NJ, USA




The following are transcripts of an unanswered email I sent to the Kerala state election commissioner and those exchanged with a well intentioned consular official in New York.


Rāhul 24 March 2009 21:58
To: ceo_kerala@eci.gov.in
Dear Sir,

I am an Indian citizen living in the United states. I have an election card and am on the voting list in the Kannur constituency. I am keenly invested in the politics of my country and was eagerly awaiting the opportunity to exercise my right to vote in the Lok sabha elections. I wrote to the Indian consulate in New York (email attached) about the possibility of voting by absentee ballot as I won't be able to make it to my assigned polling booth in Kannur and they responded that I was ineligible to vote by absentee ballot.

I am sure that there are many other Indian citizens residing outside the country who are keenly following our politics and are deeply invested in our nation's destiny. It would be unreasonable to expect them to travel thousands of miles to a polling booth in India on election day. Is there some way such citizens can participate in our democracy by absentee ballot or another means which doesn't require international travel? Please advise.

thank you very much for your kind attention

yours faithfully

Rahul Radhakrishnan
Ph.D candidate
Rutgers University
Piscataway, NJ, USA





---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: P.S.Sashi Kumar
Date: 2009/3/24
Subject: RE:
To: pvrahul@gmail.com


You have to write to the Election Commission of India as any amendments
have to be brought out by them.

-----Original Message-----
From: passport@indiacgny.org [mailto:passport@indiacgny.org]
Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 1:57 PM
To: cpv@indiacgny.org
Subject: FW:



-----Original Message-----
From: Rāhul [mailto:]
Sent: Monday, March 23, 2009 5:38 PM
To: passport@indiacgny.org
Subject: Re:

Dear Mr. Sasi Kumar,

Thank you very much indeed for the prompt reply. From your email and the
information you provideed (the law ministry website doesn't load), it seems
that I will not be able to cast my vote unless I am present at the polling
booth assigned to me. If I am unable to do that, is there, in your
knowledge, any other way I can exercise this basic right of my citizenship?
If not, could you please let me know how I can register my dissatisfaction
with this situation and seek remedial measures?

thank you very much again for your kind attention

warm regards
Rahul





2009/3/23 :
> Dear Mr. Radhakrishnan,
>
>
>
> Please refer to your e-mail of 22 March 2009 regarding voting by mail.
>
>
>
> As per Clause 18 of Part III of the Conduct of Elections
> Rules, 1961, only the following persons are entitled to vote through
> postal
ballot
> in an election for a parliamentary or assembly constituency, subject
> to their fulfilling the requirements specified inter alia in the
> Rules: (i) special voters; (ii) service voters; (iii) voters on
> election duty; and
(iv)
> electors subjected to preventive detention.
>
>
>
> Special voters include persons holding the offices of the
> President, the Vice President, Governors of States and Union or State
> Ministers, and their spouses. Service voters include the armed
> forces, security forces under the Army Act, police personnel serving
> outside their state and diplomatic staff. Voter on election duty
> means any public
servant
> who by reason of his/her being on election duty is unable to vote at
> the polling station where he is entitled to vote.
>
>
>
> You can view the full text of the Conduct of Elections Rules
1961
> may be seen at the Law Ministry’s website (address:
> http://lawmin.nic.in/Id/subord/cer1.htm)
>
>
>
>
>
> P.S. Sasi Kumar
>
> Consul
>
>
>
>