VILLUPURAM: Around six 'trespassers' were booked in Auroville on Saturday under six sections of the IPC for and three sections of the Information Technology Act, 2000. While five were foreigners, one was an Indian. This comes after the unauthorised residents allegedly conducted an anonymous illegal voting process to oust four Working Committee (WC) members in favour of collaboration with the Governing Board.
Based on the results of this illegal vote, the unauthorised locals changed the lock of the two WC offices overnight, without permission from the building managers or the Auroville Foundation, said a foundation release. "After seizing the panel's mailboxes, they began circulating forged messages to the community and authorities," said the Foundation.
"Despite several visits from the Auroville police inspector and peaceful appeals to hand over the keys and mailbox, the accused refused to do so," said a statement. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, around 50 residents gathered at the Town Hall and physically blocked officials from entering office and changing the locks. Subsequently, the police locked up the Town Hall building. "On Thursday morning, about 50-100 residents gathered to support the unauthorised take-over," said the Auroville Foundation statement.
Meanwhile, disputes regarding the WC members have been raging on over the past few weeks. In April, the Governing Board had directed the WC to assist in updating the register of residents. After three of the seven members refused to engage in the exercise, they were removed from the panel in May through an internal majority vote, as per the Residents’ Assembly directive. "Three new interim members -- or long-term residents --were then appointed into the Working Committee," added the release.
According to the statement, the Governing Board issued a statement on May 8 to the WC that the Register of Residents must be updated by June 10. All decision-making processes of the Residents’ Assembly must be paused, the board added.
Disregarding the directive, the unauthorised residents allegedly went ahead with illegal voting. The foundation said, the work of the panel and the secretary’s office have been impeded. A letter had been issued to the internal and controlled communication platforms to hand over the admin access but this was refused, it added. Investigation is on.
This comes amid back-to-back issues with the working committee election. Meanwhile, the working committee had been divided into two following a dispute regarding the usage of office. The dispute also has links to a group of residents of Auroville in December opposing development works as trees were sanctioned to be cut down for that project. They also filed a case at the National Green Tribunal. Later, in April, NGT put the work on stand-by and ordered a joint committee to visit the area.