The Confederation of Meghalaya Social Organisations (CoMSO) on Monday thanked the Opposition Congress for realising the need to implement inner-line permit (ILP) in the state while stating that the stand of political parties or organisations in the past should be set aside.
Members of CoMSO, a conglomerate of several organisations, went to meet Congress legislators and held a meeting at the MLA hostel here to seek the party’s support on the ILP issue in the state.
“We held this meeting with them to seek their support for ILP. We are glad that the Congress Legislature Party will support ILP and we welcome their decision,” CoMSO chairman Robertjune Kharjahrin told reporters.
The Congress had opposed the demand to implement ILP in Meghalaya a few years back despite a series of violent agitations in 2013. The then Congress-led government instead stressed the need to implement “comprehensive mechanisms” to check influx and brought the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act (MRSSA), 2016. CoMSO rejected the act on the ground that it did not have provisions to regulate entry of people into the state and demanded an amendment to ensure that ILP provisions were incorporated in the act.
In November this year, the Meghalaya cabinet amended the act through an ordinance that seeks mandatory registration of outsiders in Meghalaya. The ordinance is yet to get the governor’s assent.
Kharjahrin said CoMSO would try to meet representatives of all political parties but due to time constraints it might not be possible to meet all of them.
“We, therefore, urge all political parties to support the resolution on the ILP in the state Assembly when the special session is convened,” the CoMSO leaders said.
Kharjahrin said that political stands and differences in the past should be set aside and all political parties and organisations should come together and move ahead.
“If we try to dig out the past, we will reach nowhere. However, we all should move ahead and leave behind all differences in the past.”
Kharjahrin said the state should come under the ILP to prevent illegal immigrants who might enter taking advantage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. He added that population explosion, which poses a hurdle to economic development, must be prevented.
The leader of the Opposition, Mukul Sangma, told reporters that the Congress would continue to oppose CAA and find ways to stop its implementation.
He highlighted the need to implement the ILP in the state, keeping in mind the Centre’s move to implement the law.
Mukul also stressed the need to extend the provisions of the Sixth Schedule to the non-scheduled areas. He announced that his party would continue to hold protests across the state against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.
He also hit out at the NPP-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government for mobile Internet shutdown due to violence in the city for the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
“We are very angry because people’s democratic rights have been curtailed by shutting down mobile Internet. The present government is bankrupt of ideas, It is inefficient and there is sheer lack of governance,” Mukul added.
“This action is simply rhetoric of digital India and digital banking. It has affected many people, including students and traders,” he said.
