Roy warns of indigenous people becoming minority

SHILLONG: United Democratic Party (UDP) president Dr Donkupar Roy on Tuesday expressed apprehension that Meghalaya would go the Tripura way with implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, but said it was useless to drop the BJP from the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA). The UDP is also part of the alliance.
Roy, who is also the Meghalaya Assembly Speaker, said the bill should be made effective in other parts of the country and not in the North East. “If they manage to do this then we will not have any problem. But we face great danger if the bill is implemented in the region,” he added
Stating that the bill would open the gate for illegal immigrants from Bangladesh to come to Meghalaya, he feared that the state will become like Tripura.
“We are afraid that the indigenous population will be reduced to a minority in its own land,” Dr Roy said.
However, he said that there would be no impact even if the government dropped the BJP from the MDA as the party managed to pass the bill by sheer force of its number in the Lok Sabha.
Roy said it depends on the NPP if they would withdraw support to the NDA.
He, however, said that the UDP does not have an MP in Parliament so the party will not be able to raise its voice there.