The Meghalaya adopted a resolution requesting the Centre to promulgate the ILP

Staff Correspondent

Shillong: The State Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution requesting the Centre to promulgate the Inner Line Permit (ILP) in the State.

The one-day special session of the State Assembly was held on Thursday and all the members cutting across party lines were in sync with each other in supporting the move initiated by Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma. Although, there subtle pilfering speeches from both sides of the floor of the House, the Chief Minister was loud and clear that the introduction of the act is long overdue.

“After the enactment of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), the concern of the people on the vulnerability of our State has been made especially on the cut off year”, stated Conrad.

In the course of his speech, the Chief Minister also clarified how his government and other stakeholders had vehemently opposed the CAB (now CAA). “I met the Union Home Minister four times and the Centre agreed to exempt the State from the purview of the CAA”. We have many laws to protect the indigenous people of the State but the time has come to put into place the ILP”, Conrad stated.

He spoke about the Meghalaya Residence and Safety Act and the mechanism that will be put in place after the ILP is introduced in the State. He said that those who wanted to enter the State will not have to encounter any tedious process because the machine will be there to facilitate them.

Taking from where the Chief Minister spoke, the leader of the Opposition, Mukul Sangma rose in support for the introduction of the Eastern Bengal Frontier Act. Extending his support, Mukul said that the vulnerability of Meghalaya is more palpable after the CAA.

“People are agitating because the honourable MP (Agatha Sangma) from Tura took an unexpected stand in Parliament. What she said was not in line with the party leadership”, stated the leader of the Opposition even as he iterated that her statement in Parliament is a betrayal to the collective stand of the people of the State. The Opposition members in course of their speeches spoke about a resolution that should be passed to ensure that the CAA should be repealed from the State.

Interestingly, in course of his reply to acknowledge the collective voice of the House to propose before the Centre to introduce the ILP, the Chief Minister said, “It should not be a long process; it doesn’t need to go to Parliament. The word ‘Meghalaya’ can be added in the preamble of the act and it could be signed by the President of the country.”

On the CAA which exempts 3 percent of the State from its purview, the Chief Minister stated that his government will go to New Delhi to ensure 100 percent exemption from the legislation. The leader of the Opposition demanded that there should be another special session to pass a resolution to repeal the CAA.

Meanwhile, amidst the deliberation where one and all were in favour of the introduction of ILP in the State, members of the pro-ILP groups belonging to varied pressure groups were in the visitors’ gallery, patiently listening to the discussion and updating their activists who have camped themselves in State Central Library.

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