SHILLONG, April 16: The Confederation of Meghalaya Social Organizations (CoMSO) has threatened to close down the State Secretariat if the State Government cannot impress upon the Centre to grant Inner Line Permit (ILP) to the state.
The warning came from CoMSO after around 200 activists held a surprise protest in front of the Secretariat against the delay in implementation of ILP in the state.
The sudden protest of the CoMSO came barely a day after the High Court of Meghalaya listed a PIL filed seeking the closure of entry and exit point at Umling.
The members of COMSO surprised everyone when they demonstrated in front of the Secretariat with banners and shouted slogans ‘No ILP, No Rest’ and ‘MDA government down down’.
The unannounced protest of the pressure groups also sent the state police into a tizzy as they were caught unaware.
Later, police personnel were deployed and the gates of the Secretariat were locked. The incident also exposed the failure of the intelligence who did not have any clue about the protest even as similar attempts of protesting in front of the Secretariat had been tried a few times by pressure groups even before.
The surprise protest also led to traffic snarls in different areas of the city and later the agitating groups proceeded to State Central Library.
Speaking to media persons after the protest ,
CoMSO leader Roykupar Synrem said the CoMSO earlier this month had decided to do something to awaken the representatives sitting in the Secretariat since they felt let down. They were sore that this issue had not been taken up ‘seriously’ by the Government.
Recalling that a year had gone by since official resolution was passed, the CoMSO leader took a dig at the State Government for not doing much on the matter.
“We organised this protest to send a clear message that today we have come here in the number of 200-300 and if this issue is taken lightly, we will go to every nook and corner to garner support and a day will come when we will storm the Secretariat with lakhs of people,” he said.
