MEMBERS of the civil society have appealed to the caretaker government to adopt such measures as will enable the voters belonging to the minority communities to vote in the next elections without being intimidated, or coerced into supporting any particular party. The appeal, we believe, is based on the fact that minority communities were subjected to harassment and repression across the country after the 2001 elections.

The communalisation of the electoral process will further debilitate democracy in the country which is now passing through a grave crisis. If minority voters are not allowed to vote freely, a big chunk of the population will be left out of the democratic process and it may also influence--obviously in a totally unacceptable manner--the results of the polls.

Regrettably, it is the four-party alliance which is facing the charge of having targeted the minorities following the 2001 elections that the alliance actually won decisively. Nevertheless, they decided to punish the minority voters who they believe had not supported them. Wasn't it a culpable crime that actually brought disgrace to the nation as a whole? Nowhere in the civilized world are people persecuted because of their political belief.

The political parties are supposed to win the hearts of the minority communities through their work, instead of relying on muscle-power. Democracy, or any system of governance for that matter, will fail to deliver if the political parties still resort to barbaric practices that should have been a thing of the past by this time in our society.

Equally regrettable is the unpalatable truth that nobody has ever been brought to justice for intimidating the minority voters, though there is documentary evidence that such crimes were committed time and again by the communal forces.

The caretaker government should address the issue, if only because it has a direct bearing on around 80 lakh minority voters still haunted by the rankling memories of the 2001 elections. The government has to ensure that nobody is harassed for his/ her religious identity while exercising a democratic right guaranteed by the constitution.