Shillong, Dec 9: The Khasi Students Union (KSU) on Monday announced its decision to implement its own rules to check illegal entry of outsiders into the state.
The announcement came after the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was introduced in Lok Sabha and it will be implemented in non-schedule areas of Meghalaya.
The announcement was made by KSU president, Lambok Starwell Marngar after chairing the central executive committee (CEC) meeting of the Union on Monday.
The meeting discussed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and the state government’s failure to implement the comprehensive mechanisms to tackle influx problem.
After the meeting, effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were burnt as a mark of protest against the CAB.
Marngar told reporters that the KSU rejected the CAB, and termed the Centre’s decision to exempt only scheduled areas of Meghalaya as an “eye-wash†only to fool the indigenous people.
The bill seeks to make illegal immigrants who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, eligible for Indian citizenship.
“We will instruct over 700 units of the union to start implementing the decision taken by the CEC,†he said.
Stating that Meghalaya unlike the other states in the region which have Inner Line Permit (ILP), has no laws to protect its people, the KSU president said, in view of this, the Union has decided to implement its own rules to prevent illegal entry of outsiders into the state.
Although the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government had passed a resolution opposing the CAB, Marngar pointed out that had the government serious enough, it could have implemented the comprehensive mechanisms including the setting up of the entry-exit points to safeguard the interests of the indigenous people.â€
He said that the KSU was successful in detecting and pushing back thousands of illegal outsiders in the past, which showed that thousands of illegal outsiders managed to enter and settle in the state because there are people who provide shelter.
The Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019, to make it mandatory for outsiders to register while coming to the state, was recently approved by the state government but is still pending for the assent of the Governor.
Marngar however said that the Union will not accept the ordinance if the state government does not speed up the entry-exit points. “The process of notifying the district task force to be headed by the different deputy commissioners was also very slow. It is disheartening to see the state government is not at all serious on this issue, when the situation demands it to be aggressive.â€
Meanwhile the KSU has also appealed to the citizens of the state to fully support and cooperate with the anti-CAB protest called by the North East Students’ Organization (NESO) in the region.
The KSU has also decided to inaugurate the statue of U Kiang Nangbah, on the occasion of his death anniversary on December 30.