SHILLONG, July 25: Two regional parties — United Democratic Party (UDP) and People’s Democratic Front (PDF) — both allies of the NPP-led MDA Government submitted separate memorandum to Union Home Minister, Amit Shah on Saturday highlighting burning issues concerning the state, prominent among them being the demand for implementation of the Inner Line Permit and the need to resolve the interstate boundary dispute with Assam.
The memorandum, which was handed over to Shah by UDP leaderand Home Minister, Lahkmen Rymbui, sought due consideration from the central government towards the demand for ILP.
“Since illegal immigration is a common issue and concern of the indigenous people of the Northeastern region, a more uniform approach instead of a fragmented one would augur well to address this long-pending issue. 60 member of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly had unanimously adopted a resolution on December 19, 2019 in the Assembly with one voice for implementation of the ILP in the state,” UDP president Metbah Lyngdoh said in the memorandum.
The memorandum also spoke about the long-cherished dream of the people of the state for inclusion of Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution and recalled that people of the state of Meghalaya were overjoyed when the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly on September 26, 2018, adopted a resolution to petition the Government of India to recognise the two languages.
On the boundary dispute, Lyngdoh said that the UDP was extremely happy to know that the Centre has taken cognizance of the disputes between different states of the region that has been lingering for almost 48 years.
“Despite the efforts made at the CM-level by Meghalaya and Assam and also at the level of the chief secretaries, the outcome of the talks has not yielded the desired results,” Lyngdoh said.
He further informed that unpleasant skirmishes keep erupting periodically in the border areas. Inspite, of earlier decisions taken to maintain status quo, the areas of differences have witnessed sporadic incidents and mounting tensions from time to time.
With regard to the proposed amendment of the Sixth Schedule, the UDP president said that his party is of the view that all the points raised and submitted to the Parliamentary Standing Committee in line with the traditional and cultural practice of the indigenous people, be incorporated for the smooth and effective functioning of the District Councils in the state.
On the Meghalaya-Assam Joint Cadre system, Lyngdoh further said that although it has its merits and demerits, the system has been a bone of contention which has greatly affected the functioning of the administrative system in the state and many a time forced bureaucrats to be subservient to their parent state.
The UDP is of the opinion that a separate cadre for the State of Meghalaya would ensure that officers would be able to perform better in the state that they are attached with, he said.
Meanwhile, PDF president, Banteidor Lyngdoh said that Meghalaya is concerned over the drastic increase of influx because of unchecked entry of illegal migrants which creates issues that tend to disturb peace and harmony in the state besides threatening the ‘unique identity’ of the indigenous people of the state.
“Implementation of ILP is a comprehensive mechanism that will help to check the influx of illegal migrants in the state,” the PDF president said in the memorandum submitted to Shah.
The PDF memorandum was jointly handed over to Shah by Banteidor and Hamletson Dohling.
On the interstate boundary dispute, Lyngdoh said that there are as many as twelve areas of dispute. In the past there have been many incidents which have caused clashes, tension and hostility among the people living on both sides of the border.
“There have been CM and CS level talks in the past. However, even after 49 years of statehood this issue has not yet been settled. Therefore, we requests your immediate intervention for setting up of an interstate boundary commission so that it can be discussed and settled at the earliest,” Lyngdoh said.
The PDF also batted for inclusion of Khasi language in the Eighth Schedule. “Being one of the important language in most of the educational institutions in the state as well as having a full-fledged department in the North-Eastern Hill University after fulfilling all the important criteria as prescribed by the Ministry, the language deserves to be included in the Eighth Schedule,” Lyngdoh added.
