SHILLONG:
Voice of the People Party (VPP) has alleged that the Centre and state government are plotting to delay the implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) in Meghalaya.
VPP chief Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit lashed out at political leaders of the state saying that he does not see any sincerity on their part to implement ILP, despite the passing of an official resolution in 2019.
“In fact, it seems there is a connivance between the state government and the central government in order to pave the way for the state government to shake their responsibility, giving the responsibility to the central government and telling the people that we cannot do anything since the ball is now in the central government’s court. So how sincere are they? That is the question the people would need to ask,” he said.
Stating that ILP will be included in the party’s manifesto, Basaiawmoit however said that the situation is different where the present government has not only failed but has created a situation where it is not easy to get ILP.
“So what we need to do now is we need to first challenge the presidential order whereby they removed the word Khasi-Jaintia from the preamble. Is it constitutional on the part of the central government to adopt or to change any law after the expiry of three years of the commencement of the constitution of India? That has to be looked into,” he added.
The VPP chief also assured to undo the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Meghalaya and Assam to resolve six out of the twelve areas of difference shared between the two states if voted to power.
“It (border agreement) is against the wish, the sentiment and the expectation of the people. We have mentioned that we are not accepting the decision of the MDA government. We will definitely undo it (MoU),” he said.
The former Nongkrem legislator said all the political parties including those in the present MDA government have failed the people of the state miserably.
“Had it been that the performance of this present government is satisfactory, we would not have come up with this new political party. Therefore, we decided to launch this new political party because all the political parties, not only the political parties in this dispensation but even the old parties that have governed the state for a number of years have failed the people of the state miserably,” he added.
When asked, Basaiawmoit said that the party will push for inclusion of Meghalaya under Article 371 because it is a shield to protect the rights of the indigenous people including the resources of the state.
“Article 371 will be included in our manifesto. I don’t need to spell out this Article – we know it is far better, it is like a shield, it is the only shield comparing to any other mechanism that we would love to ask from the government,” he stated.
When asked, the VPP chief said that he never supported the demand for creation of a separate Khasi-Jaintia state when he was heading the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) as its president.
“You are wrong. I may be in the party but in principle I have not agreed which is why during our time the demand for the separation of Khasi-Jaintia state is not reflected as a priority of the party,” he said while explaining, “The reason is because we believe that creation of a separate state is not a solution. We need to ask why we have to demand the government for a separate state. There must be some valid reasons so according to us we don’t see that creation of a separate state will be a solution for the problems of the Khasi people.”
On the issue related to reservation policy, Basaiawmoit assured to constitute an expert committee to review the reservation policy if the party is voted to power in the state.
“This issue is very sensitive. We don’t want to handle it carelessly. We just want to tell you that it will be included in the manifesto of the party that when it is voted to power we will definitely review and relook the policy because reservation policy is not a simple policy,” he said.
“We need to do some research work, we need to compare and we need to understand the true meaning of reservation before we come up with any decision so we will be constituting an expert committee if we are voted to power and the expert committee will dwell on this issue, will carry out some research work so that a policy that is going to come is not discriminatory,” he further asserted.