TURA: Home Minister James K Sangma’s recent statement that ‘the passage of the Citizenship Bill will have no impact on Meghalaya’ has drawn sharp criticism from the Garoland State Movement Committee (GSMC) who on Monday demanded that the government should come clean on whether it is in support of the controversial bill or against it.
The chairman of the GSMC, Nikman Ch Marak, termed the Home Minister’s statement as irresponsible which amounted to succumbing to the ideology of the BJP Government, even as he pointed out that other North Eastern states with anti-immigration laws were opposing it.
“States with anti-immigration laws like Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh are opposing the CAB tooth and nail fearing the future existence of the indigenous people. But without any anti-immigration law in hand, safeguarding the indigenous people is impossible and as such, the careless statement made by the Home Minister sounds hollow,” Nikman said. The GSMC chairman also demanded to know on what basis and on what law the government would protect the people from becoming a minority in their own land. “He speaks about the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act, 2016 which is yet to be implemented in the state and amended ordinance of the bill awaits the Governor’s assent and required the passage of Bill in Meghalaya Assembly,” Marak said.
Marak demanded that the government should come up with a clear cut policy as far as the re-introduction of CAB in the ongoing Parliament session and its subsequent passage of the said bill is concerned, specifying the number of immigrants to be accommodated in the soil of Meghalaya and which particular places of the state will be earmarked for their settlement. ) “However, our stand is that, we will never accept such a blunder by the government and not even an inch of our land shall be compromised for the settlement of the foreigners,” he warned.
Youth Cong opposes
Meanwhile, the Meghalaya Pradesh Youth Congress (MPYC) has condemned Home Minister James K Sangma’s comment on Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
In a statement issued here, Richard M Marak, president of the MPYC has asked the National People’s Party (NPP) to do away with hypocrisy and clear their stand on CAB.
“As the whole of North East is opposing it (CAB), the NPP should do away with hypocrisy and double standards and clear their stand on this communally motivated bill for once and for all,” Richard said.
It further said that Conrad K Sangma, who was the then MP of Tura, remained silent when CAB was introduced in 2016.
