Pressure groups have drawn a line connecting the murder of Raja Raghuvanshi and the need for the Inner Line Permit (ILP) or Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act (MRSSA) 2016 in the state.
In separate statements today that followed the revelation that Meghalaya police had arrested four suspects and were about to arrest Raja’s wife Sonam in connection with the case, the Confederation of Meghalaya Social Organisations (CoMSO), an umbrella organisation of several pressure groups and the Federation of Khasi Jaintia and Garo People (FKJGP) hit out at the national media for sensationalising the incident.
The organisations also took the opportunity to renew its demand for the immediate implementation of the ILP in Meghalaya. “The ILP is not merely a regulatory mechanism, it is a protective framework to preserve the social, cultural, and territorial sanctity of indigenous people, a framework that would have pre-empted the chaos, confusion and defamation that engulfed our state over the past few weeks, CoMSO stated.
The FKJGP said the ILP and MRSSA should be applied to tourists, students and employees of central and other state governments, private sectors and banks.
The Achik Youth Welfare Organisation said there is a need for stricter regulations like the ILP in Meghalaya, particularly in tourist-heavy areas like Sohra and South Garo Hills.
However, the ILP’s implementation must be balanced with measures to sustain tourism while addressing local concerns. The Meghalaya government’s renewed push for ILP, as seen in 2019, should be revisited with urgency to safeguard both tourists and the state’s unique identity, it said.
While the decision to implement ILP has to be taken by the central government, the Ri-Bhoi Youth Federation (RBYF) said that the state government should not wait idly but implement the MRSSA in the meantime.
Speaking to reporters, RBYF president Bipul Thangkhiew expressed his deep concern over murder and the accompanying slander against the state’s people and institutions. This was possible, he said, because there is no restriction of the incoming and outgoing of the tourists and outsiders who visited Meghalaya.
The MRSSA could fill in for the ILP while the latter is still pending approval, Thangkhiew added.
Meanwhile, there was condemnation from the National People’s Youth Front (NPYF), and the state Mahila Congress regarding the way Meghalaya had been portrayed in the national media and social media.
“They shot off their guns before knowing the entire truth, which has created a lot of sensitive feelings towards the people of the state, especially of Sohra,” Nicky Nongkhlaw the NPYF national president said, adding that if they can so quickly blame the people of the state then they can also apologise just as quickly now that the evidence points to Sonam and her accomplices as being behind the murder of Raja, not local people.
State Mahila Congress president Joplyn Scott Shylla also demanded an apology for Meghalaya from national media houses that allegedly defamed the state. “The MPMC stands for truth, justice, and the dignity of all communities. Irresponsible journalism, driven by assumptions and without verified facts, has created a distorted narrative that paints the people of Meghalaya in a negative light. This kind of reporting is deeply hurtful, divisive, and dangerous,” Shylla said.
