MAWKYRWAT: The public rally-cum-public meeting, organised by the KSU, FKJGP, SSSS and HANM at Mawkyrwat, South West Khasi Hills District, on Tuesday, rejected the amended Citizenship Act and put their faith on the Supreme Court to strike down the law which they described as ‘unconstitutional’ even as they vowed not to allow the amended act to be implement in the state.
The protest against the CAA here started with the burning of effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and NPP MP from Tura Agatha Sangma at BDO office junction in Mawlangwir. It was followed by a rally towards Mawkyrwat Market, in which hundreds of people including youths, men & women and members of different organisations participated.
The protesters were shouting slogans like ‘Modi down down, Amit Shah down down, Agatha down down, MDA government down down, CAA down down, Bangladeshi go back, ‘Imslem rikhasi’, We want ILP, ‘ha Ri lajong katba mon’.
At Mawkyrwat Market, the public meeting started with the prayer by Shimtimon Blah, ex-president of the Seng Longkmie, Mawkyrwat.
Addressing the gathering, former president of the KSU Delhi Unit, Kynpham Kharlyngdoh said that many organisations, including the North East Students Organisation (NESO), of which KSU is a part, were filing writ petitions in the Supreme Court challenging the validity of the amended CAA.
“We firmly believe that the Supreme Court will strike down this law which is unconstitutional,” Kharlyngdoh said.
He said that the Sixth Schedule cannot protect Meghalaya from illegal migrants because many parts of the city do not fall under it, and therefore the state urgently needs the Inner Line Permit (ILP). Citing the case of Manipur in which ILP was implemented recently Kharlyngdoh was of the view that there is no problem in implementing the ILP in Meghalaya if the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly passes a resolution.
Therefore, Kharlyngdoh called upon the people to be ready to fight if the government fails to pass the resolution on implementation of ILP on December 19.
“We must stand united and be ready to come out to the streets if the government fails to pass the resolution for implementation of ILP in the state or else we will become like Tripura, in which the indigenous people were reduced to only 34 per cent of the population,” Kharlyngdoh said.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Synjuk ki Seng Samla Shnong (SSSS), Wallambok Syiemiong said that being the custodian of the Constitution, the SSSS has full faith on the SC to strike down the CAA. He also reminded about the Aadhaar Act in which there was hue and cry across the country but eventually the apex court came to the rescue.
Syiemiong also lambasted successive state governments for not listening to the demand of the Khasi Students Union (KSU) since 1987 to implement the ILP in the state.
“We immediately need this shield (ILP) to protect the ‘Jaitbynriew’ as we waited for better laws (promised by governments),” Syiemiong said as he called upon the Dorbar Shnong, Dorbar Kur, Seng Longkmie and the youths to be cautious and ensure that no land was given or sold to the outsiders.
Osternic Marbaniang, CEC member of the KSU Central Body said that the KSU, which was founded to protect the interest of the ‘Jaitbynriew’, will not allow the government to force the implementation of the CAA in the Hynniewtrep land.
“We are standing tall and strong to protect the ‘Jaitbynriew’ and if the government tries to force the implementation of the CAA, we will implement our own law, the law of the people, which is very powerful,” Marbaniang said.
Besides demanding for immediate implementation of the ILP, Marbaniang also said that Meghalaya needs to implement the Meghalaya Resident Safety & Security Act (MRSSA) as well as exemption from the CAA so that the indigenous people can be protected.
Others who spoke include the president of KSU Ranikor Circle, Marconi Thongni, the vice president of the FKJGP South West Khasi Hills, Ferdinand Iawphniaw, the vice president of the HANM South West Khasi Hills, Lambok Marwein and the Myntri of Sakwang village, Shining Kharjahrin.
