The Trinamool Congress (TMC) manifesto for the upcoming state elections will give great focus to issues of security, including the Inner Line Permit (ILP) and protection of religious freedom, leader of the opposition Dr Mukul Sangma said today.
Religious freedom, especially when it comes to Christians in India, has risen to prominence in Meghalaya after recent attacks on fellow believers in Chhattisgarh.
Dr Sangma said that one of the party’s biggest agendas is to ensure that justice and personal liberties are not trampled on by any party.
“The people of the state must be cautious and see what has happened in the name of alleged conversion. How many persecutions against one particular faith are being allowed? Is it not a threat to the kind of inclusive character of this nation?” he queried. “The strength (of the country) is its diversity and every political party that has ideas to go against this must be reminded of this.”
His former colleague and current Deputy Chief Minister, Prestone Tynsong, has hit out at Dr Sangma over flip-flopping on the ILP issue – while as Chief Minister he opposed it, now he is in its favour.
Dr Sangma defended his shifting stand on the issue, saying that his government had been concerned by influx and illegal immigration and had, through exhaustive engagements with stakeholders, crafted the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act (MRSSA).
He said that the MRSSA had a mandate with enough enforcing power through traditional institutions and state authorities to address the concerns of the general public. It was only in 2019, while Meghalaya and the North East were gripped in anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests, that a resolution was unanimously approved in the Assembly in favour of ILP.
“When we talk about the resumption of the demand of the ILP, it is due to the lies of the people in power,” Dr Sangma said, claiming hat the state government did nothing to fight against the CAA’s provisions, which were “bulldozed through Parliament” and thus generated a sense of insecurity and a renewed demand for ILP.
The government also tried to fool the people, he went on, by assuring them that the Assembly resolution would quickly lead to ILP, even though three years on the demand is still pending.
“Have they not lied? Have they implemented ILP? What was it then? Was it like what the Deputy Chief Minister said earlier that they lie and fool the people before and after the elections? That is the breed they belong to,” he added, referring to a recent viral video clip of Tynsong who boasted about how politicians fool people to get their votes.
