Various pressure groups of the State have expressed their annoyance after Union Home Minister Amit Shah did not give them enough time to discuss Inner Line Permit (ILP) and other issues.
“It is sad that we were not allowed to utter even a word on the issue of ILP. We only wanted to know if the Centre says yes or no on ILP,” Khasi Students’ Union (KSU), president Lambokstarwell Marngar told reporters after their meeting with the Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma this evening.
He said that there were many issues apart from ILP in the memorandum which the pressure groups wanted to discuss with the Union Home Minister.
The KSU president also said that the pressure groups had witnessed that even the Cabinet Ministers of the Meghalaya government were not allowed by Shah to discuss issues.
Marngar said that the turn of events on Saturday was not only an insult to the State government but to the citizens of Meghalaya.
“He came to our State but he did not allow us to discuss the issues,” he said.
He said that the resolution passed by the Meghalaya Assembly more than a year ago, is the voice of the people of the State and therefore the Centre should have respected it.
Marngar said that in the days to come they will decide their future course of action.
“I want to make it clear we will continue our democratic form of agitation to press for our demands,” the KSU said.
He said that the pressure groups are firm on their stand that the Centre should implement ILP in Meghalaya.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister said that the Union Home Minister was keen to meet the Cabinet and the pressure groups.
“But due to certain programmes that came up in Assam, his programme changed and he had to go back and so based on that there was change in the appointments and the Home Minister’s office requested that he may not be able to sit down with the Cabinet and the organisations who had sought appointment,” Sangma added.
He also said that Shah has conveyed to the Cabinet and to the other organisations through him who had sought appointment that he will be happy to meet them in Delhi.
