By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, March 18: Pressure groups Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC), Jaintia National Council and Confederation of Ri-Bhoi People on Monday urged the state government to implore upon the central government to completely exempt Meghalaya from the purview of controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act and its rules.
They also urged it to impress upon the Centre to extend the provisions of inner line permit (ILP) system to the state at the earliest.
HYC president Roy Kupar Synrem told reporters their concern is that even if a majority of the areas in the state are exempted from the CAA’s purview, the state will still be affected by the migration of illegal immigrants from other states, particularly Assam.
“In the absence of any law that regulates the movement of people entering the state, we fear that the exemption provided will be futile and we may face unwarranted situations of influx. Therefore, the only protection that we can have from this spillover effect is the immediate implementation of the ILP system as well as full exemption of the provisions of CAA,” Synrem said.
He said CAA provides for exemption of its applicability in the tribal areas of Meghalaya but the entire state is not under the Sixth Schedule to Constitution.
According to the HYC president, there are areas under Shillong where the provisions of the Sixth Schedule are not applicable and where a large number of “immigrants” are residing.
“In such a case, if people residing in these areas or others taking advantage of the non-applicability of the Act in the areas migrate to these areas and apply for citizenship under this Act, then how will the state stop them for getting citizenship? Is there a mechanism to keep track on the number of people presently residing in these areas so that a data is kept for future references?” he asked.
The three pressure groups decided to submit a memorandum to Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma in this connection.