HANM stages surprise protest in front secretariat, CM says ILP, languages are beyond govt’s jurisdiction

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaJuly 4, 2022

Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Monday said issues related to implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) and inclusion of Khasi and Garo languages in the 8^th Schedule to the Constitution of India are beyond the state government’s jurisdiction.

Reacting to a protest staged by an NGO in front of the secretariat, Sangma said the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government has been the most proactive when it comes to the issues of ILP, languages and the boundary dispute with Assam.

He said things have not happened for 50 years until the MDA took over adding that the MDA is the first government which had taken bold decisions to pass resolutions for implementation of the ILP and inclusion of Khasi and Garo languages in the 8^th Schedule.

He also informed that numbers of activities have gone into it and “we are showing a lot of our concerns to popularise and to make our languages richer.” 

“But at the end of the day as I said whether it is 8th Schedule or whether it is ILP these are facts that require a lot of push, a lot of lobbying and these are things that are beyond the Meghalaya government’s jurisdiction in one way,” Sangma said while adding “Therefore, we have done our part by passing resolutions very strongly in the Assembly, which has never been done before.”

He further added that “In terms of border issue, we are the first ones who actually go and visit and come to the first phase of conclusion where we have managed to come to an agreement with Assam government in the presence of the Union Home Minister Amit Shah and officials and we have managed to resolve the issue.”

Stating that the concern of the NGOs and the public will always be there, the chief minister however said that the public at large has seen the commitment shown by this government on all these three factors. “I think the public will judge and the public at large know how we have taken these three issues with highest and top priority,” he stated.

Earlier, activists of the Hynniewtrep National Achik Movement (HANM) staged a surprise protest infront of the secretariat against the government’s delay to implement the long pending demands of the people of the state and its failure to address the grievances of the teachers.

HNAM president Lamphrang Kharbani condemned the government for forcing the teachers to sleep in the streets.

“We ask the MDA government not to play with the future of the students, we need teachers back to school. Implement the demands of the teachers immediately,” he said as he warned “Today is just the beginning, we will be compelled to come to the streets even if there is a law and order breakdown.”

He said the HNAM also demanded the government to ensure immediate implementation of the ILP, inclusion of Khasi and Garo languages, relocation of Sweepers’ Colony from Them Iew Mawlong, and resolving the boundary dispute with Assam without comprising tribal lands before 2023.

According to him, 50 years have passed yet not even a single demand of the people was achieved.

“This shows that the ministers have failed to push these demands and when they go to Delhi, they are only interested to request for developmental projects for the state,” Kharbani said adding Manipur gets its ILP only within two weeks of protest but Meghalaya despite the fact that ILP has been here since British rule but till today, it is yet to be implemented.