The long-pending demand for the implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) in Meghalaya erupted with renewed urgency on Friday as members of the Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC), under the banner of the Confederation of Meghalaya Social Organisations (CoMSO), stormed the Secretariat gate in Shillong, shouting slogans of “No ILP, No Rest” amid heightened security.
Leading the protest was CoMSO chairman and HYC president Roykupar Synrem, who said the recent murder of Raja Raghuvanshi in Sohra by individuals from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh exposed dangerous gaps in the state’s security apparatus due to the absence of ILP.
“Happened in the last few days where some people from outside the state, particularly from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, came and commits a crime and take away the life of Raja Raghuvanshi. It seems that these people came without anyone knowing that they have entered the state and without anyone knowing that they have left the state after committing the crime. Had ILP been implemented in the state Meghalaya, the records of these people would have been there. And the Meghalaya police or the authority would have known that Sonam Raghuvanshi was still alive because she came with her husband and left alone. This would have able the police department to track the movement of Sonam Raghuvanshi as well as the co-accused. But because ILP system is not in place, that’s why they have come in, they have commit the crime, and then left easily to their own state,” Synrem said.
He accused the state government of remaining complacent despite repeated concerns about illegal immigration. “There are a lot of illegal immigrations, that’s why we have been demanding for the implementation of ILP. And today we came to remind the state government that it is high time,” he added.
Apart from ILP, Synrem demanded that Special Investigation Teams (SITs) be set up in every district as per the Union Home Ministry’s order to detect and deport illegal immigrants, particularly from Bangladesh. “We don’t believe in the statement that says Meghalaya does not have any illegal Bangladeshi,” he said, pointing to numerous apprehensions made by HYC and other organisations along the state’s over 400-kilometre international border.
He also slammed the delay in implementing the 2024 amendment to the Migrant Workers Act, which was passed by the Assembly but not notified. “Maybe it’s in the Secretariat or Raj Bhavan… that amendment has provisions to detect workers who come and work in the state. There have been cases where workers from Assam with criminal history committed the same crimes here. Had that provision been enforced, such people wouldn’t be allowed to work in Meghalaya.”
Clarifying that the protest was not to seek a meeting but to issue a public warning, Synrem said, “We have not come here to meet any Minister or the Chief Minister. We came to remind them—what have you done to fulfill the responsibility bestowed upon you?”
He announced that this was just the beginning. CoMSO, he said, would launch a series of protests across Meghalaya to press the government into action. “We want the people of Meghalaya to know that the demand for ILP is still alive. Maybe the government has forgotten it. We have not.”
