SHILLONG: The president of Khasi Students’ Union (KSU), Lambok Marngar, has rejected the proposed move of the government to issue an ordinance on the Meghalaya Residents’ Safety and Security Act and has called for implementation of Inner Line Permit (ILP) instead.
Marngar was speaking at the 41st anniversary of the union at Lachumiere on Wednesday, which was attended by leaders of various units and circles of the union besides its former leaders.
Later, speaking to reporters, he expressed surprise that the 13 pro-ILP groups were not kept in the loop about the changes to be made in the Residents Act.
It may be mentioned that the government has said it would issue the ordinance after the Lok Sabha polls.
“I don’t understand what the government wants. If it feels that the Act is not proper, then it should immediately implement ILP,” he said.
Marngar said the union was not informed of the amendments since the 13 pro-ILP groups were sidelined by the government whereas they should have been called for discussions if there was any lacuna in the Act.
Stating that the Residents Act was conceived by the 13 pro- ILP groups at the height of the movement for ILP, he said the groups should be called if the state government feels some changes are required to be made.
“We did not say there are no loopholes in the Act. We will rethink about this attitude of the government,” he said.
He said the legislation can never replace the demand for ILP, which is still alive.
“We have been demanding entry/exit point, but this act is still stuck in the Secretariat with implementation not in sight,” he said.
He observed that Meghalaya does not have any restrictions while entering unlike Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland, which makes the state more vulnerable to influx.
With the state of Meghalaya devoid of a system to check influx, he said it will be affected once the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is published in Assam.
Marngar said the North East Students’ Organization, to which KSU is affiliated, has sent a letter to the Home ministry to implement ILP in the state.
On the other hand, speaking at the same gathering, Marngar expressed concern on the government’s apathy towards timely payment of salaries of teachers.
“Teachers are the backbone of the society. If it wasn’t for teachers, there would not be chief ministers and ministers. The problem of teachers should be addressed immediately,” he said.
He also raised the contentious issue of border areas where he said indigenous people are being targeted.
