GUWAHATI: The Centre’s hint at exempting three Northeast states having the inner line permit system in place, from the purview of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, has prompted Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) to appeal to the state government for a relook on the report of the high-level committee for ILP constituted back in 2012.
The committee was formed by the state government under the chairmanship of the then deputy chief minister, Bindo M Lanong.
“We appeal to the state government that it should relook the report of the committee for ILP. KHNAM has always made it clear that ILP is the only underlying mechanism to protect us from the impact of CAB which the state government and our legislators fail or do not bother to understand,” Thomas Passah, vice president of KHNAM’s central executive committee, told The Shillong Times on Tuesday.
Union home minister, Amit Shah has recently conveyed to a delegation of senior leaders of the BJP from the Northeast that at least three hill states of the Northeast, which have inner line permit (ILP) system in place, were likely to be exempted from the purview of CAB.
The delegation had called on him to express their concern over CAB, amid protests by groups and parties across Northeast.
“In 2013, our party, under the leadership of president, Pyndap Saibon reinitiated the demand for ILP by staging a protest at the State Central Library, which was further taken up by the 13 NGOs. But the demand is still pending while putting at stake our identity with the current situation,” Passah rued.
“The state leadership has tried its best to brush under the carpet the importance of ILP for which the price will have to be paid by many. Now if the Centre says that it will exempt three Northeast states with ILP in place from the ambit of CAB, then all parties should jointly demand ILP in Meghalaya,” he said.
A senior BJP MP, who was part of the delegation of BJP-ruled states of the Northeast barring Assam, told media persons in New Delhi that they were assured that CAB would not be applicable in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram which have ILP.
In case of Assam, the Centre is reportedly considering some options with one of them being whether it was possible to keep out the Sixth Schedule areas out of the purview of the Bill. The BTAD, Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao autonomous councils fall in the Sixth Schedule areas.
Reacting on the development, Karbi Students Association (KSA) president, Samson Teron told The Shillong Times that indigenous organisations in the state and region would not tolerate such a “divide and rule policy” if at all such considerations were made in due course.
“CAB is an arbitrary Bill. The KSA will never allow the Centre to implement CAB. Our stand is very clear. We are with the anti-CAB organisations of Northeast. We have been opposing the Bill till it gets scrapped,” Teron said.