TURA: Members of various student and social groups in Garo Hills took out a cultural protest on Tuesday evening against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and demanded imposition of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) in the state. The protest agenda was “No to CAA, Yes to ILP”.
The protest which was organised by the Achik Youth Welfare Organization (AYWO) was actively participated by members of the GSU, ADE, FKJGP and the Garoland State Movement Committee (GSMC).
“Our protest is not religious by any means. We just don’t want illegal immigrants to be granted Indian Citizenship,” said general secretary of AYWO, Lyiend Roshan Marak.
The protest began with a meeting at the Tura Bazaar where leaders of the protesting organizations turned down CAA and sought ILP. After the meeting, a procession was carried out with activists carrying lit bamboo torches as they made their way through the main thoroughfares before assembling at William point junction in Hawakhana where protesters denounced CAA and also criticized the NPP led MDA Government for betraying the people by lending their support for passing of the CAB in Parliament, last month.
“Look at the state of Tripura where now Bengali immigrants from Bangladesh are now demanding a new state for themselves while claiming to be natives of the land. Can we afford a similar situation in our state,” asked AYWO president, Sengbath Marak.
The protesting groups also reiterated that their opposition to CAA was not based on religion but on demography and the danger illegal immigrants posed to the local populace.
“We are already facing problems of illegal immigration that we have been protesting against. Our demand for ILP goes back to 2013 and despite all our protests, the movement of the governments have been slow. People died and there were losses worth crores during the protest for the implementation of ILP but where is the seriousness of the government on the issue,” said Dalseng Ch Momin, ADE president.
They also expressed disappointment with the slow pace in the establishment of check posts to check influx within the state. They questioned the delay in implementation of the Meghalaya Residents’ Safety and Security Act (MRSSA) that was passed way back in 2016.