The delay on the part of the Centre to implement the Inner Line Permit (ILP) in Meghalaya and also the return of the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security (Amendment) Bill, 2020 by Governor, Satya Pal Malik have not gone down well with anti-influx groups under the banner of the Confederation of Meghalaya Social Organization (CoMSO) which has threatened to stage an agitation on these two issues.
“We will continue to oppose the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and will ensure that not a single illegal Bangladeshi gets citizenship through this Act in Meghalaya,” CoMSO chairman Robertjune Kharjahrin said in a statement issued on Friday.
He said the confederation will meet next week to chalk out agitation programmes while slamming what he termed as the ‘apathy’ of the Central government on the issue of the ILP.
This came after the Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma informed the Assembly on Thursday that the Centre is still examining the state government’s resolution for implementation of the ILP which is aimed at checking the unabated influx into the state.
On the status of the MRSSA amendment Bill passed by the House, Sangma had informed that the Governor had returned the Bill and that the state government is examining the comments and suggestions of the Governor.
Opposing the Governor’s decision, CoMSO also questioned if the government lacks competent people to the extent that they need lessons from the Governor.
“We cannot accept the decision of the Governor, who instead of listening to the decision taken by the MLAs in the Assembly, has returned the Bill as if the government requires him to teach them,” Kharjahrin who is also the president of the HYC said.
“We demand that the state government immediately sends back the MRSSA amendment Bill to the Governor (through an ordinance or through a special session of the Assembly) for him to approve the same without further delay,” he asserted.
Expressing disappointment on the delay to implement the ILP, the CoMSO leader said one Christmas has gone and the next is coming, yet the Centre is still undecided on the ILP, which is a long pending aspiration of the people in the state.
“This step-motherly treatment by the Centre against Meghalaya and the soft attitude of the state government is something which we can no longer accept as we have been patient enough with the hope that we get ILP, but now it seems there is need to take to the streets to ensure our demand is achieved,” Kharjahrin said.
