By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Sep 12: VPP Chief Ardent M Basaiawmoit has slammed the state government for its “lackadaisical attitude” in handling illegal immigration into Meghalaya, while maintaining that the state government could have easily implemented the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system without adopting a resolution in the Assembly if it were serious about it.
Terming the Assembly resolution to urge the Centre to implement the ILP as a political game, Basaiawmoit said the manner in which the exercise was done indicated the government was not serious about the permit system.
He felt the ILP mechanism would have been implemented had successive governments been concerned about it. “It is not necessary to adopt a resolution in the Assembly,” he said.
The VPP chief said that the ILP resolution was adopted to pacify pressure groups spearheading the movement for its implementation in Meghalaya. “The leadership of the present and previous governments say they should not speak about the ILP,” he added.
Asked to explain how Meghalaya could have implemented the ILP with a resolution, he said the state only needed to issue a notification as it was included in the preamble of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation.
However, Basaiawmoit alleged that the words “Khasi and Jaintia” were removed from the preamble through a presidential order on the day the government adopted the resolution, indicating there was “something fishy” about the exercise.
He said that this was done to lob the ball in the Centre’s court so that the state government could not be blamed for the delay in bringing Meghalaya under the ILP.
In 2019, the Meghalaya Assembly adopted a resolution, urging the Centre to implement the ILP in the state. The Centre has remained mum on the matter for six years now.
Earlier, the VPP chief expressed concern over the influx, which he said is happening on a large scale in Meghalaya. He criticised the state government for “doing nothing” despite the turmoil in Bangladesh and eviction drives in Assam. “In the last two to three months, the government issued a notification asking the DCs to keep vigil, but have we seen any exercise where these displaced people from Assam, Manipur, and Bangladesh are being tracked to know how many are there and where they are?” he asked.
According to Basaiawmoit, the government’s failure to provide any record showed its inactivity. “Many of these illegal immigrants have assimilated into society by availing documents due to malpractice from the lower level up,” he said.
“If we don’t see these things as a major threat, it will affect the demographic structure of the state,” he said, pointing out that illegal immigration is a global problem, with even the USA not taking it lightly.
“People want to ensure that local and indigenous people are safeguarded, but sadly, till today, there is no attempt to address this concern in Meghalaya,” he said.