The five pressure groups demanded that the NPP-led government question the Union Minister of Home Affairs & Cooperation – Amit Shah, over the centre’s delay in implementing the Inner Line Permit (ILP) and inclusion of the Khasi language in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India.
Following a meeting with Deputy Chief Minister – Prestone Tynsong, the HYC president – Robertjune Kharjahrin, noted that the minister had informed the delegation that Shah might visit Shillong in a couple of weeks.
“Accordingly, we urged the leaders to question Amit Shah on the status of the two resolutions and why the Centre is taking so long to grant these long-standing demands of the people of the state,” he said.
It is worth noting that the two issues were among the nine-point charter of demands of the HYC, EJNC, JSM, HANM, and CORP under the aegis of ‘Save Hynniewtrep Mission’.
Expressing resentment over the delay, Kharjahrin said, “If it takes two-three months to study Manipur, what is the big deal for Meghalaya? Why this step-motherly treatment? We are also indigenous. If you grant them protection, why not us?”
“Let’s go back to history. It is a fact no one can deny it. Let us call a spade a spade. Can you deny that a non-tribal also is killing tribal in Meghalaya – we don’t want to continue it, and it’s high time for the Union government to bring peace to our state by granting ILP.”
“We have been living together with a lot of non-tribals, but we don’t want to witness the increase in their population across the state. This has to end once and for all to ensure peace and harmony in the state,” he added.
