By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Dec 26: Another year is rolling by without the implementation of the inner-line permit (ILP) for Meghalaya and the inclusion of Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution becoming a reality.
It was in 2018 that the state Assembly unanimously passed a resolution on the Khasi and Garo languages soon after the NPP-led MDA government assumed power.
Five years later, there is no word from the Centre on when the demand for the recognition of the two languages would be fulfilled even though the political leaders and members of various pressure groups and the Khasi Authors’ Society protested at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.
Leaders from the Garo Hills also met central ministers to push for the recognition of the two languages.
In 2019, the Assembly came together again and passed a resolution to urge the Centre to approve the ILP. Several meetings between the state leadership and the Prime Minister as well as the Union Home Minister thereafter have not yielded any outcome.
The pressure groups have set the implementation of the ILP as the primary condition for allowing an ambitious railway project in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills. This year, the Ministry of Home Affairs also rejected the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
The Centre returned the bill to the state government after expressing reservations over the provisions of setting up entry and exit gates in the state.
