The Voice of the People Party (VPP) is serious about pursuing the demand for the implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) in Meghalaya.
“The two strong principles of the VPP are to protect the ‘Jaidbynriew’ and bring clean politics and the Inner Line Permit is one of the ways that will protect the people of our state,” VPP spokesperson Batskhem Myrboh told Highland Post.
Reminding that in 2019 the words ‘Khasi-Jaintia’ were removed from the preamble of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, which is inextricably linked to the ILP, he said, “Even though it will not be an easy task, now we have to fight to reinstate the words ‘Khasi-Jaintia’ in the preamble.”
He said that the VPP will engage with the central government to demand ILP with sincerity and not just to fool the people of the state.
It was in December 2019 that the state Assembly unanimously passed a resolution in favour of ILP as protests against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act raged in Shillong. More than three years later, however, the Centre has still not introduced ILP in the state.
“These political parties passed the resolution for implementation of the ILP in Meghalaya in 2019 just for the sake to appeased the various agitations,” Myrboh said.
He also rubbished the claim that implementation of ILP will affect development and tourism, citing the example of Arunachal Pradesh, which has the regulation in place.
