SHILLONG: Two MLAs, one a minister, attended the rally and public meeting organised by the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) to oppose the Citizenship (Amendment), Bill, 2016, on Wednesday.
Urban Affairs Minister Hamlet Dohling, who is a former general secretary of KSU, said the Centre is misleading the states.
“We should not allow the open invitation to all illegal immigrants. The bill is only for the benefit of one party,” he added.
Dohling was accompanied by chairman of the State Planning Board Lambor Malngiang.
The minister assured that even if the Centre is adamant to go ahead with the bill, the state has prepared laws to protect the indigenous community. On the MDA delegation’s meeting with Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Dohling said, “No need for Namaste, but we just said ‘stop’… We have made it categorically clear that the North East will burn if this bill is in place.”
Speaking about entry and exit points, he said the target to set up these check points in Ri Bhoi district is within April and asserted that the state’s legislators too want these check points to be set up.
Meanwhile, Lambor said a sub-committee has been formed after the meeting of all regional parties on Tuesday and it will visit other states which have representatives in the Rajya Sabha to seek support for the North East’s demand to get the citizenship bill scrapped.
Drawing an analogy between the CAB (the acronym for the bill) and a local taxi, he said, “The CAB is a cab that will ferry illegal immigrants in the state.”
