SHILLONG, FEB 10: The Confederation of Meghalaya Social Organizations (CoMSO) has expressed disappointment over the delay of the union home minister, Amit Shah, to discuss the demand for immediate implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) in Meghalaya.
“We feel that the union home minister is taking the issue of granting ILP to our state very lightly and took us the civil society organizations (CSOs) as well the state as a whole for a ride,” CoMSO chairman Robertjune Kharjahrin said in a statement on Wednesday.
His statement came as a reaction to the outcome of the meeting held between the Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong with the union home minister.
“To the BJP and the NDA, the protection of the indigenous tribes of Meghalaya and their identity are not as important in comparison to the Indigenous people of other North Eastern states,” Kharjahrin said.
Stating that the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security (Amendment) Bill, 2020 was framed under the state list, he said, “We don’t understand why this legislation needs approval or green signal or it needs to be discussed with the Union Home Ministry before being assented to by the Governor of the state.”
“We reiterate the fact again and again that it was wrong on the part of the Former Governor to refer the said Bill to the Home Ministry as this will set a very bad precedent for future legislations as well as which undermine the power of the state of Meghalaya in particular the state legislature to legislate and violate the very federal structure as mandated by the constitution of our country,” Kharjahrin added.
The CoMSO chairman said the present Governor has publicly expressed that the Amendment Bill 2020 can be assented too but we fail to understand the reason for the delay to give his assent.
“We therefore request the Governor to give his assent to the MRSSA Bill 2020 at the earliest ,” he demanded.
Stating that Meghalaya will be badly affected by CAA when its rules are notified and implemented, Kharjahrin said, “ILP, therefore, is a must before CAA is fully implemented in the state otherwise we may witness many Bangladeshis, Pakistanis and Afghans will be granted Indian citizenship in the State of Meghalaya itself.”
Meanwhile, the CoMSO will soon have a consultation meeting among the leaders of different CSOs to collectively decide on the future course of action against this indifferent attitude the Union government towards the indigenous people of our State.
By Our Reporter
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