SHILLONG, June 24: The KSU on Saturday demanded that the central and state government should make their stand clear on whether ILP will be given to Meghalaya.
“We want the Centre and state government to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to ILP for Meghalaya,” KSU president, Lambokstarwell Marngar said while speaking during the induction ceremony of the newly-elected members of the Union’s central executive committee.
Recalling that the Assembly had adopted a resolution in 2019 to urge the Centre to implement ILP in the state, Marngar said, “We don’t know what has happened to this resolution. Are the political masters following up with the Centre on this resolution?”
Making it clear that the KSU has been patient long enough, he said they will not tolerate this delay tactic.
“I appeal to the government not to mislead the people again if our anger turns to violence,” he said.
Marngar also questioned the fate of the resolution adopted by the Assembly for inclusion of the Khasi language in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution.
He said it was sad that there is no one from among the locals who could be nominated as member of the expert committee to review the job reservation policy of 1972.
Talking about the presence of many big industries in the state, he wanted to know if there is any kind of regulation on appointments in these industrial units.
“We don’t even know how many locals are employed in these industries,” he said.
Marngar said the state government should ensure that industries set up in the state serve the interests of the state and they should not come here just to exploit the natural resources.
He lamented that the state lacks political leaders who can come up with policies that benefit the state.
“If we had such political leaders we would have seen positive results by now,” the KSU president said.
Asserting that the KSU will continue to follow up on various long-pending issues affecting the people, he said, “We remain unaffected even if there is criticism against the leaders of the pressure groups. What concerns us is that our own people will be wiped out due to the lack of a strong legislation or mechanism to protect us.”
He also cautioned against allowing a situation like Manipur from being replicated in the state.
“No issue should be raked up over differences in religion. We are a community of few lakhs people. If it happens (like Manipur) it will take a huge toll on the entire community,” he added.
