SHILLONG, Oct 1: The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) has claimed that Bangladeshi nationals are illegally entering Meghalaya through the damaged portions of barbed wires on the international border at Ichamati and Majai in East Khasi Hills district.
The union said it had apprehended several immigrants in the past. It expressed concern that the authorities have not yet got the damaged barbed wires repaired although the damages occurred in 2018-19 due to heavy rains.
KSU president Lambokstar Marngar said many illegal immigrants are entering the state. He said the KSU had brought the matter to the notice of the state government on numerous occasions.
Claiming that many of the immigrants have already mingled with the crowd, he said the foreigners are taking full advantage in the absence of a strong mechanism to check infiltration.
He said it is high time the Centre considered the demand of the implementation of Inner Line Permit (ILP) in the state. The KSU president said all 60 legislators should pressure the Centre to grant ILP and follow it up aggressively as without a proper anti-influx mechanism like the ILP, it is very difficult to check the influx of immigrants into the state.
The state Assembly had unanimously adopted a resolution in December 2019, urging the Centre to implement ILP. Centre’s only response so far has been that the Ministry of Home Affairs is examining the matter.
In the recently-concluded autumn session of the Assembly, Mawlai MLA PT Sawkmie had suggested that the House should pass another resolution to remind the Centre of the earlier resolution. He had asked the state government to assign a senior Cabinet minister and a senior government official to continuously pursue the demand with the Centre.
He suggested that the government can also utilise the services of the three MPs from the state towards this end since they are mostly stationed in Delhi.
