CoMSO slams Cong MP on ILP-Sixth Schedule issue

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaDecember 31, 2019

SHILLONG: The Confederation of Meghalaya Social Organization (CoMSO) has slammed Congress MP from Shillong Vincent H Pala for trying to mislead the people of the state on the issue of ILP and Sixth Schedule.

In a statement issued here on Tuesday, chairman of the CoMSO Robertjune Kharjahrin said, “We expressed our disagreement with the statement of Pala that Meghalaya has to decide only one whether it wants ILP or Sixth Schedule and that if ILP is implemented, Sixth Schedule will be done away.”

“This is just an attempt to mislead the people of the state. As an MP his duty is supposed to fight and defend the interest of the indigenous community but unfortunately from his statement it proves otherwise,” he added.

Kharjahrin also asked the MP to make his stand clear on ILP instead of making ‘jalebi’ statement.

Stating that the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution of India is like a shield to protect the identity of the indigenous community, he said, “It is the duty of this MP to ensure that the Sixth Schedule is further strengthened.”

The chairman also said that the objective of the ILP on the other hand is to regulate the illegal entry and settlement of outsiders to ensure that the indigenous population are not outnumbered in their own homeland.

“Looking at the present situation, the state of Meghalaya needs the district council as well as the ILP to protect its indigenous people. We have the right to strengthen the Sixth Schedule and also to get ILP,” he said.

The CoMSO also reminded Pala that Mizoram has three autonomous district councils (ADCs), ILP besides Article 371 (g) while Nagaland has article 371 (a) and ILP, Arunachal Pradesh has article 371 (h) and ILP and Manipur has article 371 (c) and now it will also implement ILP.

“Therefore, we cannot say that if ILP is implemented, the district councils (under Sixth Schedule) will be done away with,” Kharjahrin said.