SHILLONG, Jan 7: The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) said denial of Inner Line Permit (ILP) to Meghalaya by the Centre will be a political injustice to the people of the state.
KSU president, Lambokstar Marngar, told The Shillong Times on Thursday that Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, had himself stated recently in Imphal that denial of ILP to Manipur would have been a political injustice to the indigenous people of that state.
“The Centre should apply the same yardstick to Meghalaya. If it denies ILP to the state, it will be a political injustice to its indigenous populace. It will also prove that the Centre does not respect the voices of the legislators and the people of Meghalaya,” Marngar said.
He said the KSU would soon discuss its future course of actions on the issue. “We will keep pressuring the Central government to grant ILP to the state,” he said.
Marngar reiterated that all 60 legislators, who supported the resolution passed by the state Assembly for implementation of ILP, must go to New Delhi and pursue the demand vigorously.
“We want all our MLAs to go to New Delhi and return with ILP,” he asserted.
The KSU president also said the legislators and the state government must also pursue the long-pending demand for inclusion of Khasi language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
The demand for ILP intensified in the state after the Centre had passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and it became a law.
Earlier, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma had met Shah twice to discuss the ILP issue but the Centre has so far remained non-committal.