Union Home Minister Amit Shah has been able to ignore the demand for the Inner Line Permit (ILP) in Meghalaya because of the cowardly regional parties in the state, Mylliem MDC and Congress Party stalwart Ronnie Lyngdoh said today.
“I can say outright that Amit Shah is doing whatever he wants because of the ‘tail down’ attitude of the regional parties towards him,” Lyngdoh stated.
Shah declined to discuss ILP with either members of the state government or pressure groups when he visited Shillong in February. However, he had promised to return to the state to discuss the issue in March but the visit never came about.
“If Shah is really concerned about the minority-populated state like Meghalaya, he can give ILP to the state and there’s no need for his physical presence,” Lyngdoh said. “If he is really concerned about the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo people, he can consult with the home ministry and concerned officers and implement the ILP accordingly in Meghalaya from Delhi.”
Meghalaya was fortunate that the Congress was in power when the state was created, he added, because otherwise it never would have gotten protections under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, reservation quotas or Land Transfer Act.
Unlike the Congress, the BJP does not care about the sentiments and insecurities of minority people because it stands only for the majority, the MDC concluded.
