Meghalaya’s political parties have largely worked against the imposition of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) and, even since passing the 2019 resolution in its favour, are largely lukewarm towards it, the Voice of the People Party (VPP) said today.
VPP leader Batskhem Myrboh said that his party, on the other hand, would push to bring Meghalaya under the ILP’s mandate.
“The former governments, including the Congress, did not agree on ILP and termed it as outdated. Then the UDP wanted a modified ILP and the same was the case with the NPP where it did not totally agree with this demand,” Myrboh said. “It was only after the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) was passed that most of the political parties, maybe for political reasons, said that they needed ILP.”
It was only after the passage of the CAA that all political parties jumped on board for the need for ILP, perhaps inspired to do so by the masses of people who were demanding it during anti-CAA protests.
The shifting stands of the other political parties has weakened the demand for ILP, Myrboh opined.
“Until and unless there is a strong pressure from the state, along with a unanimous decision from all the political parties of the state, the central government will not favour giving ILP to any state,” he said, adding that Manipur got ILP in 2020 only after consistent demands for its implementation since 2015 by all political parties, including the BJP and Congress.
The BJP in Meghalaya changed its stand to support ILP after the CAA was passed, Myrboh said, adding, “In Manipur there was political unanimity that ILP was needed but here we have political unanimity that we don’t need ILP. And even if we wanted it, it was a modified version which showed that the demand for it here is weak.”
