Patricia Mukhim
My apologies for once again dissenting with the idea of protectionism, which is what the Inner Line Permit (ILP) is, because, this very idea of a visa for travelling within the country is fraught with ambiguities. Also the demand for the ILP is an admission that (a) the Sixth Schedule has failed to protect the tribals (b) the Meghalaya Land Transfer Act (1971) has failed to prevent land alienation. The ILP, it is perhaps believed by pressure groups making a shrill call for its implementation, will prevent land alienation and ‘illegal migrants’ from entering Meghalaya and settling here. Without having gone through the process of identifying genuine Indian citizens residing in Meghalaya vide the National Register of Citizens’ process how do we even know how many illegal settlers there are in the State and whether they are the problem or whether the problem lies elsewhere.
To buttress the idea that the ILP is needed here, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has expounded that the process of obtaining the permit would be smooth and non-cumbersome as it will be executed online but the fact remains that Meghalaya gets most of its tourists from Assam who come here on weekends. Imagine having to apply for an ILP every weekend or every month for that matter. If the CM is grounded in realism and if his officials have informed him of those realities then he would know that the abandoned sheds selling vegetables along the roadside between Shillong and Sohra and other destinations all belong to vendors who had to close shop because there were no longer any day tourists since March this year. So that’s an income gone. You cannot underestimate the contributions made by day tourists to the local economy. And the ILP will be a deterrent to the day tourists. But perhaps that’s what this MDA Government wants to call, “high end tourism,” which will only benefit hoteliers and guest house owners. Such hotel guests don’t need to buy anything along the highway.
The ILP protagonists have argued vociferously that the states with the ILP regime namely Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur get a fair number of tourists or more tourists than Meghalaya. I am not sure which statistical data they used for you won’t find too many day tourists riding on non-existent roads unless they are enticed by something like the Hornbill Festival or the Ziro Music festival and the Sangai festival in Manipur. Mizoram is not known to have any special festival to attract tourists. Nagaland and Mizoram are not governed by the Sixth Schedule. The latter has special provisions for minor tribes. Nagaland has Article 371 (A) which is more about central legislations not being binding on the state unless ratified by its legislature. Manipur does not fall under the Sixth Schedule hence the demand for ILP was perhaps granted to make the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) inapplicable in that state. The Centre had said that CAA would not be implemented in ILP states and areas under the Sixth Schedule. Arunachal Pradesh incidentally is the only tribal state with the Panchayati Raj system of local governance. So we have a bouquet of schedules and laws even within the North Eastern states.
If the Government of India has committed not to implement the CAA in Scheduled areas, then in Meghalaya, that would leave out only the European Ward – an area that is just about 10.36 sq km out of the total area of the state which stands at 22,249 sq km. European Ward is choc-a-bloc and does not permit any expansion except upwards to the skies. But even if there are illegal migrants in Meghalaya that are without valid documents and they happen to be Hindu, Christian, Sikh, or Buddhist and are eventually allowed to settle in the European Ward of Meghalaya by virtue of the CAA, where will they find the space other than by staying in rented accommodation? But the question that precedes the above is – how many ‘illegal migrants’ are there in Meghalaya that have suffered religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan or Afghanistan? Do we have the numbers or are we proceeding on assumptions alone? When will the exercise for determining such illegal migrants start? What mechanisms will be used? Has there been any thinking on this?
The ILP might deter future migrants but economic refugees that cross over from Bangladesh to Meghalaya will not traverse through the entry-exit points because they would not have valid documents to upload and therefore will not be eligible to obtain the ILP. So who are we actually keeping out vide the ILP? Effectively we are checking Indian citizens visiting Meghalaya, not necessarily for tourism. We will also be checking foreign nationals who might be tourists or other categories of visitors. How does it help the cause? The negotiation with Government of India should be to exempt the CAA from Meghalaya because it is a Sixth Schedule State. Period.
This whole idea of trading in fear and creating a perception in the minds of people that the ILP is the only mechanism to protect the ‘indigenous’ tribals can go awry. The ILP is a double edged sword. It is a protectionist mechanism which will ward off economic investments because it is a psychological barrier for prospective investors who might want to set up clean industries such as in the Information Technology sector. Nagaland had been trying to sell itself as technology hub from several years now but the idea has not taken off. Can we name one industry that is providing gainful employment to the people of Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh or Manipur? Is it any wonder that the number of returnees to these states on account of the pandemic was very high because they all had to leave their states to find employment outside? The number of returnees to Meghalaya was relatively low and comprised more students than the workforce.
With a burgeoning youth population and a cap on government jobs, the private sector will be the only other employment provider. But ILP will be a dampener on investors as stated above because it gives the impression of a surveillance state and no one in this day and age wants to be told that a visit to any part of this country and length of stay would be decided by the state. When we from Meghalaya visit Goa – a tiny state, are we told that we can only stay for a specific number of days and visit only certain areas? Then on what justification are we doing this to other visitors? And imagine people coming to visit their family members here having to apply for an ILP! So whichever way one looks at it the ILP is an untenable idea in Meghalaya.