SHILLONG: The Meghalaya Legislative Assembly would unanimously pass the resolution for implementing Inner Liner Permit (ILP) in the state during the special session of the House on Thursday.
The Government convened the session following demands from pressure groups to implement ILP in the state after the amended Citizenship Act was passed by the Centre.
On the eve of the special session on Wednesday, all roads leading to the Assembly at Rilbong were cordoned off by the city police.
A strong contingent of police personnel was deployed at Rilbong locality as well as at the Zig Zag bridge.
Official sources said that as both the ruling and the opposition are supporting ILP, the decision to pass it would be unanimous.
Opposition Chief Whip and Congress MLA, PT Sawkmie said whip has been issued to all the 19 Congress legislators to support the government resolution.
The ILP movement in the state gained momentum after the Centre decided to implement ILP in Manipur while Meghalaya and other states of the region were vehemently opposing the implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).Soon after the Centre passed the CAA and exempted the scheduled areas of Meghalaya from the purview of the Act, the MDA government came under pressure since the NPP MP Agatha Sangma supported the CAA in Parliament.
The situation turned worse after Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said that the concerns of Meghalaya have been addressed by the Centre as far as the CAA is concerned though he added that the state government would seek total exemption of the state from the CAA.
As pressure mounted, the NPP-led MDA delegation landed in New Delhi and met the Union Home Minister Amit Shah to demand ILP in the state.
Though the union home ministry has not given any clear indication as to whether it would implement ILP or not in the state, different groups and others mounted pressure on the state as well as the Centre for its immediate implementation.
Curiously, the opposition Congress, which had opposed ILP since 2012 when it was in power in Meghalaya, took a U-turn on its stand and demanded ILP in the state.
The city and other parts have witnessed intensified agitations by the pressure groups to urge the Centre to implement ILP in the state.
On Thursday too, several NGOs apart from Congress party organised a series of public meetings and peace rallies in different parts of the state.
Congress leader Ampareen Lyngdoh hoped that the session will conclude not just by passing the ILP resolution but also demanding in one voice the repeal of the CAA with a deadline to the Centre.
“I have full faith that the government of the day will be sensitive to the arguments of the opposition as we are all concerned for the state and its people”, she said.
CoMSO chairman Robert June Kharjahrin said the implementation of ILP has been a long pending demand by both indigenous and non-indigenous residents of the state.
“We hope that all the 60 MLAs in the state Assembly will support the resolution on ILP and that the Centre respects our sentiments as ILP (as a mechanism) would regulate the entry and settlement of outsiders in Meghalaya,” Kharjahrin said.
According to the CoMSO leader, ILP is also important because one of the clauses under CAA exempts ILP states (under Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873) from its ambit. Like Manipur (where ILP was introduced on December 11, 2019), at this point of time, a Presidential notification (including the name Meghalaya in the preamble to BEFR), is mandatory,” he said.
The CoMSO chairman went on to add that ILP was needed not just for the entire Northeast but for every state in the country as well. “The Union government has to respect the sentiments of the indigenous people and safeguard the states from influx,” he said.
Kharjahrin further said ILP also complements the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act (MRSSA), which ensures the safety of residents and regulates tenants. (With inputs from Our Special Correspondent in Guwahati)
