SHILLONG, April 4: The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) has questioned the NPP-led MDA government’s commitment in aggressively pursuing with the Centre the demand for implementation of the Inner-Line Permit in Meghalaya.
“As per our assessment, the state government is not serious in following up this issue with the Centre. We are not sure if the representatives of the government who visited Delhi really took up the ILP issue,” KSU president Lambokstar Marngar said here on Sunday.
He said even the common people of the state are raising doubts on the commitment of the government.
“We don’t need to remind the state government of what needs to be done, but we are confused about its policy and stand on the influx issue,” Marngar said.
The government, he reminded, had initially claimed to have set up the Umling entry point according to the provisions of the Meghalaya Residents’ Safety and Security Act, 2016.
“But Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma told the Assembly that the entry point was meant to register people entering the state and checking for COVID-19,” he said.
Reacting to the statement of the Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, who had urged the NGOs to be patient, Marngar said that they have been cooperating with the government all along.
The failure of the government to implement the ILP is testing their patience, the KSU president said, adding that they are unhappy with the Centre’s attitude.
“The Centre is creating confusion by first asking us to go to Delhi and then informing us that they will be coming to the state to listen to what we have to say on our demand to implement ILP,” Marngar said.
He added that the reluctance to bring Meghalaya under the ILP regime despite a resolution adopted by the Assembly in December 2019 has made it clear that the Centre does not respect the MLAs of the state.
The Centre should understand that the demand for ILP in the state is not new and had started in 1979, the KSU president said.
“We are not demanding independence but only asking the Centre to provide us with the law for protecting the indigenous community of the state. The Centre needs to respect the sentiments of the people,” Marngar said.
He informed media persons that the three NGOs – KSU, Federation of Khasi Jaintia and Garo People, and Hynniewtrep National Youth Front – had recently met to discuss the future course of action.
“We shall start with public meetings in the villages to seek the support of traditional heads and the people at large for a democratic movement. We want it to be the movement of the masses,” Marngar said, warning of “aggressive agitation” if the Centre continues to ignore their demand.