Members of the state government will travel back to New Delhi to campaign for the implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) and inclusion of the Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said here today.
“We will be going back to Delhi to ask the government of India to consider the resolution passed by us unanimously (on ILP),” he told reporters, adding that the MDA is committed to this and other issues, like the inter-state boundary with Assam and Them Metor impasse.
However, the boundary issue, which has been a bone of contention with Assam ever since the creation of Meghalaya in 1972, will have to wait until Assam’s general election, he stated.
On the Them Metor issue, Tynsong said that the high-level committee constituted by the government to look into the matter is not “sitting idle” and he urged the public to have a little more patience.
The minister brushed aside the recent threats of the outlawed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC), but would welcome dialogue with the militants, though this would also depend on the central government. If the HNLC is serious about peace, it should abjure violence completely, however, he added.
