After years of knocking on the door without success, the United Democratic Party’s Jemino Mawthoh has suggested that a new approach has to be adopted by the state government in order to get the Centre to agree to introduce the Inner Line Permit (ILP) in Meghalaya.
The UDP general secretary said yesterday that there is a need to exert more political pressure and also strike the right chord in the demand for ILP.
The state Assembly unanimously passed a resolution in favour of ILP at the end of 2019 during furious disturbances against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Mawthoh said that the central government should listen to the cry of the indigenous without discriminating against genuine non-tribal settlers in Meghalaya. He pointed out that several North East states already have ILP.
Mawthoh emphasised the need to experiment to find the best mechanism to cushion the state from the impact of influx. Since no method has evolved to keep influx in check, unrest that has affected all citizens of the state has been the result.