How ILP may pan out for Meghalaya if ever introduced

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Local community members take part in a protest rally against the new Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Jorhat, Assam, Sunday. Photo: PTI

After the Union government passed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), protests erupted across the nation against the “unconstitutional” law. Even before the agitation engulfed many parts of the country this month, Assam and a few northeastern states were rocked by fierce stir as soon as the new legislation was enacted on December 12. While protesters elsewhere have been flagging the discriminatory aspects of the amended Act, those in Meghalaya and Assam also demanded introducing Inner Line Permit (ILP), an official travel document, regulating the entry of outsiders in prohibited areas.

Notified by the British Government to protect the interests of the tribal areas of eastern part of erstwhile Bengal Province, under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873, the ILP has been in force in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland and now Manipur.

Though the new provisions of the CAA will not be valid for the tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura which are covered in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution and also in the areas coming under the ILP, it is widely feared that granting citizenship to those from neighbouring countries will lead to their settlement in these areas too.

Protesters have been pressing on to include the entire Meghalaya under the ILP citing the influx of outsiders to the state, especially as the CAA allows for granting citizenship to refugees, except Muslims, from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Expecting such a scenario, the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, on December 19, unanimously adopted a resolution urging the Government of India to implement ILP in the state. Many in the state came out in favour of the move while some voiced their concerns over the impromptu decision. Former Meghalaya governor Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary commented that the implementation of the ILP will result in the “downfall of trade, commerce and economic development of the state.” However, some termed it as a “ploy by the state government to quell the protests.”

"In the long term ILP may benefit the indigenous people of the state if proper regulations are put forward to ensure development,” said Abir Suchiang, a resident of Meghalaya.

He has a point as Meghalaya, unlike its neighbhouring sister states, is not landlocked and is often a transit route for people from Assam, Tripura and Mizoram and if ILP is introduced it will pose a hindrance to onward travellers.

“The ILP brought in 1873 by the British is a regressive tool and is not effective in the present era. It will only end up isolating the people and they have no choice but to go with it as there is no other effective system in place,” quoted a journalist from The Meghalaya Times.

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