SHILLONG: UDP, the main opposition party, has asked the Meghalaya Government immediately to appeal against the ruling of the single bench of the High Court of Meghalaya that Bangladeshi nationals who have made Meghalaya their home prior to March 24, 1971, must be considered as Indians.
“We are of the view that the Government should contest this judgement in the Division Bench of the High Court of Meghalaya,” UDP working president Paul Lyngdoh said while talking to newsmen here on Wednesday.
According to Lyngdoh, the Government should contest this ruling on the basis of the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955 and Foreigner’s Act, 1946. The cutoff date of 1971 is only applicable in the State of Assam, he argued.
“The issue of the Assam Accord was that the Indira-Mujib Treaty was a bilateral agreement between two Prime Ministers which was yet to be integrated by way of law into the Constitution of India,” he said.
He also said that any attempt to settle illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and make them part and parcel of Meghalaya would be detrimental to the interest of the scheduled tribes of the State and would go against the spirit of the Sixth Scheduled and Article 19 (5) of the Constitution.
“The Government should appeal before the Division Bench to quash the ruling without any further delay,” the UDP working president added.
Justice SR Sen, while passing the judgement on May 15 last, directed that these citizens should also be enrolled in the voters’ list in Meghalaya.
The Court passed the judgment after hearing a petition filed by 40 ‘refugees’ from Bangladesh who were denied enrolment in the voters’ roll by the district administration of Ri Bhoi district citing doubts about their citizenship. These residents hailed from Amjong village near the Assam-Meghalaya border in Ri Bhoi district. Justice Sen also directed the Ri Bhoi district administration to return the citizenship certificates of the petitioners within one week, which had been seized by the Deputy Commissioner.
