NEDA can help solve border dispute: Congress MLA

SHILLONG: Congress MLA Ampareen Lyngdoh said the state government should solve the border dispute with Assam since it has coordination with the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA).
Lyngdoh was speaking during the debate on the governor’s address.
She drew the attention of the government that the governor’s speech only mentioned that the government “is just monitoring the disputed pockets continuously” without suggesting any concrete solution.
“Everything is not well in these disputed areas,” she said, adding that she was informed of a lathi charge at Langpih recently by the Assam police, which was not a good precedent.
With the Pulwama attack being condemned, she said a call to boycott and ban Kashmiri products by the governor was not constitutional and urged not to add fuel to fire.
ILP back to haunt state
Further, Lyngdoh also observed that the inner line permit (ILP) and border dispute are being revived and the past incidents are coming back to haunt people again.
According to her, the ILP issue was raked up again due to the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), which she termed as “draconian”.
In this connection, she asked about the move of the state government in the event of the Centre again bringing the CAB.
“We need to know what the Meghalaya government will do in the event of CAB being brought again,” she said, adding that Manipur has already prepared Manipur People’s Protection Bill to deal with the situation.
After the CAB was not placed in the Rajya Sabha, Lyngdoh said the Khasi Students’ Union took out a procession on Valentine’s Day to celebrate. However, three days later, BJP national president Amit Shah in his speech at Lakhimpur sought to bring back the CAB, she added.
Lyngdoh said the state needs to address the matter as the indigenous people should not be overwhelmed by Bangladeshis.