Newmai News Network
Shillong | February 25
Leader of the opposition, Dr Mukul Sangma said on Tuesday that state government of Meghalaya should find ways to prevail upon the Government of India to agree to implement the Inner Line Permit (ILP) in Meghalaya.
“Now that the resolution has been adopted in the Assembly on ILP it is incumbent on the state government to find all the ways and means to prevail upon the Government of India to agree to the proposal of the state government on ILP,” he said adding that this has become necessary because of the anticipated fallout of the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019.
Stating that the narrative that has been generated revolving CAA is completely on the contrary to the legacy of this "great nation" of being inclusive, secular, Mukul said, “The interpretation of CAA was articulated by the Union Home Minister both in the House and outside and the justification is a complete distorted interpretation of the history of our nation and its legacy and a pre-determined intent to claim that this nation is also an offshoot of the partition based on religion.”
On Inter-state boundary issue
Meanwhile, Sangma expressed concern over Assam's delay to hold talks with Meghalaya to find an amicable solution to the vexed inter-state boundary dispute.
"It is the responsibility of both the state governments to engage in bilateral discussion and refresh memories on what has been agreed upon in the past and also move forward," Mukul Sangma said on Tuesday when asked about the fresh tension at Umwali under Langpih area which is one of the 12 disputed areas between Meghalaya and Assam.
Recalling the past where the then government under his leadership had prepared documents on the 12 areas of difference, the former Chief Minister said that agreements had been made that no new settlement should take place in the disputed areas. He also said that it was agreed that developmental activities should continue after informing each other before taking up the initiatives.
Sangma also said that though a number of meetings were fixed with Assam to discuss the border issue, Assam kept on postponing the meetings. He further said that there is a lack of commitment from Assam to resolve the issue.
"We have submitted the comprehensive documents to Assam in 2011 and we hoped they would complete examining the documents so that we sit for talks, but no response came from them," Sangma recalled.
Admitting that it is not easy to resolve the pending boundary dispute, Mukul Sangma urged Assam to involve all political parties and stakeholders to ensure that the collective desire of the people to solve the issue is met.
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