SHILLONG: For the first time ever, tour operators from different areas of East Khasi Hills and Jaintia Hills converged at the State Central Library (Art and Culture room) for a meeting convened by the Meghalaya Tourism Development Forum (MTDF) on Friday.
Reacting to the continued agitation by pro-ILP activists, shopkeepers and tour operators from Mawlynnong and Sohra and those from Shillong and Jowai expressed strong resentment over the prevailing stalemate over the Inner Line Permit (ILP).
Those present, who came under the banner of stakeholders in the tourism industry, unanimously rejected the demand for implementing ILP in the state.
MTDF chairman Robert Lyngdoh said that the agitations are taking a toll on every sector of the state be they food joints or hotels. “Hotel bookings have gone down by 70 percent, Lyngdoh said, adding that there are less disruptive ways of registering protests.
Lyngdoh observed that shopkeepers down their shutters during agitations not because they support the issue espoused by the agitators but because they fear the consequences of keeping their shops open.
Citing statistics from states where the ILP is in force, Lyngdoh said the population of indigenous people in the state has reduced drastically despite it. The MTDF actually supported their contention that tourism in the ILP-driven states is not encouraging with facts and figures.
Asserting that ILP would adversely affect the tourism industry of Meghalaya, RG Lyngdoh said that in the year 2009-10, 6 lakh tourists visited Meghalaya while only 58,000 tourists visited Mizoram and 22,000 tourists visited Nagaland during the same period.
He pointed out that the state earns revenue of about Rs 100 crore annually from tourists and said Meghalaya has the potential to reach the level of Goa provided an enabling environment is provided in the state.
“ILP will give us false sense of security just like what reservation policy has done,” he added.
A resident of Mawlynnong involved in home stays tourism, Rishot Khongthohrem recalled that earlier tourists from other countries visited Mawlynnong which has the tag of being the cleanest village in India but now things have changed as footfalls have declined because of the uncertainty prevailing in the State.
“Mawlynnong village depends on tourism and this income is used for supporting our children’s education,” Khongthohrem said.
While admitting that influx is a serious issue, he said that the Dorbar Shnong could play a key role in not allowing people of uncertain identity to reside within their areas. He says Mawlynnong does not allow any outsiders in the area
“We don’t need ILP since the present mechanism is sufficient to check influx,” Khongthohrem reiterated.
Food vendors and shopkeepers from Sohra identified as Doreen Sohkhlet and Phira Warjri rued that these days their food is wasted since there are no tourists. “This is supposed to be the peak season but we have missed the bus this time,” the duo observed.
The handful of tourists who visit Sohra rush back to Shillong because of the night road blockade they said. There is a sense of fear and insecurity and tourists do not want to get caught in the crossfire the vendors complained.
Jaintia Tourist Environment Society president SK Lato regretted that tourists are not willing to visit even Nartiang temple as they feel unsafe to venture to distant locales during the agitations.
“The ILP cannot be applied to Meghalaya since the national highway passes through the state and Meghalaya cannot remain in isolation,” he asserted.
He maintained that the state already falls under the Sixth Schedule which has given enough protection to indigenous people. If need be the Sixth Schedule can be further strengthened but the ILP is not an option, Lato said.
“We cannot remain in isolation and we don’t support this ILP demand because as tour operators we believe in extending the hand of friendship to all,”, Lato stated, adding that be condemned the acts of violence that occurred during the agitation.
The MTDF informed that ILP is currently implemented in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland. But along with ILP have come a handful of issues. In Arunachal Pradesh, where the ILP system is in force, the population of the indigenous people had fallen to 68 per cent in 2011 from 79.02 per cent in 1971. Likewise it had fallen in Nagaland from 88.61 per cent in 1971 to 86 per cent in 2011.
Confederation of Tour Operators Banlum Blah felt that Meghalaya needs to showcase its rich cultural heritage to the world and the State was at a take-off stage in the tourism sector
Professor of Economics, NEHU, Sumarbin Umdor said he believed that the agitations in the state are beginning to take a toll on people’s livelihoods and bringing them down to their knees.
Many openly expressed their unhappiness that such agitations tend to appropriate the voices of the majority of the people in the State without going through the process of creating mass awareness. Some of those who attended said this kind of meeting should have been held much earlier so that a cross section of voices are heard.