SHILLONG, NOV 3: Intensifying their stir, the fourteen pro- ILP ngos announced fresh three-day state-wide ‘night-road-blockade’ from November 5 to November 7 press for their demand to implement the Inner-Line Permit (ILP) to check illegal influx into the state.
“The three days night road blockade will start from 8 pm to 5 am in all the eleven districts of the state,” Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) president Daniel Khyriem said in a statement issued on Sunday.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the fourteen ngos that includes KSU, FKJGP.HNYF,G5U, JSU, RBYF,CSWO,KWADDA, JYF, AJYWO, AYWO, ADE, AIGU and FAF held on November 2.
“We are pained at the adamant attitude of the Mukul Sangma led government to implement the Eastern Bengal Frontier Regulation Act 1873 or Inner Line Permit (ILP) as recommended by the High Level Committee on Influx constituted by the Government in 2012,” Khyriem said.
Khyriem also objected to the recent statement of the chief minister equating the ngos demand with that of armed militant outfits and said, this is highly “objectionable and condemnable.”
“We do not possess any arms or weapons to lay down or surrender but wish to exercise our rights as per the constitution to demand for a legitimate implementation of a law to protect the interest of the indigenous people which is also the responsibility and sworn duty of the state government,” the students’ leader said.
Khyriem opined that it is evident that this government is a one man government and said when the situation warrants that the chief minister to be present and resolve the burning issue of the state but he has gone on a foreign trips, which he feels, speak volume of his seriousness on the issue of influx and for a conducive and peaceful atmosphere in the state.”
Khyriem said this is another compelling reason to view with skepticism the claim and commitment of the government to resolve the issue.
Khyriem said that the misleading statement of the government on the repeal of the Eastern Bengal Frontier Act 1873 from Garo hills is yet to be proven by any documentation even after repeated request by the ngos to produce the repeal to substantiate the government’s claims. He said, “We are justified to conclude that the Act is very much in existence in the entire state.”
Khyriem also said the fourteen ngos appeals to the people to continue to extend their support towards their agitations called for to implementing the Eastern Bengal Frontier Regulation Act 1873 in the state to protect and preserve the interest of the indigenous people and welfare of the entire state. – By Our Reporter
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