SHILLONG, July 4: Clarifying on the issues of Inner Line Permit implementation and inclusion of the Khasi and Garo languages in the 8th Schedule to the Constitution of India, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Monday pointed out that these are matters that go beyond the state government’s jurisdiction even as he added that his government has done its work by passing resolutions in favour of the two.
Reacting to a protest staged by an organisation in front of the state secretariat on Monday, Conrad Sangma said the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government has been the most proactive when it came 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 8th Schedule.
He also informed that a number 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 were the first ones who actually went and visited and cleared 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.”
Acknowledging 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 Achik National Movement (HANM) staged a surprise protest in front 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.
HANM 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.”
