CoMSO slams MDA Govt for ignoring ILP

Shillong, Sept 17: The Confederation of Meghalaya Social Organizations (CoMSO) on Tuesday slammed the Meghalaya government for not implementing the Inner Line Permit (ILP) in the state to check entry of outsiders.

The CoMSO, a conglomerate of several organizations slammed the state government at a rally organized at Motphran on Tuesday to condemn the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government for not implementing the ILP.

In his speech, CoMSO chairman, Robertjune Kharjahrin said that Meghalaya has no strong law to protect the state especially after the publication of the final National Register of Citizen (NRC) in Assam where over 19 lakh persons did not figure their names in the list.

He also pointed the threat to the state in view of the statement made by Union Home Minister, Amit Shah who stated that the Centre wanted to implement the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB).

Kharjahrin said that except ILP, there is no strong law that can protect the people of the state.

He said that MDA various organizations under CoMSO have played a constructive role by discussing and giving suggestions to the state government on the issue, and alleged the MDA government of adopting a dual attitude towards this issue.

“On one hand the state government is saying that we oppose the CAB, but on the other, it has never acted in the way to protect the people of the state. The government should understand that opposing the CAB and implementing ILP is the same,” Kharjahrin said.

Kharjahrin also informed that CoMSO has been welcoming the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act, 2016.

“We have welcomed this Act with one condition that the provisions of ILP should be incorporated in it. We have been demanding that ILP’s teeth should be inserted in the MRSSA,” Kharjahrin said.

He also sought the people’s support and to continue raising the “no ILP no rest” demand.

Asking all organistions to work together on that concerning the indigenous people, Kharjahrin said, “We want ILP, not ego. Let’s us work together instead of blaming each other. If you want, come and lead, and we are ready to follow if there the status on ILP is not changed.”

Asking all MLAs to declare their stand on ILP, Kharjahrin said, “If anyone from among the MLAs opposes ILP, they should make their stand clear before the people.”