Pro-ILP activists in Meghalaya build another check gate to prevent entry of outsiders

Shillong, Jul 15 (PTI) Pro-ILP activists in Meghalaya on Monday erected another check gate in the eastern part of East Jaintia Hills district connecting Assam to prevent entry of "outsiders" into the hill state.

A senior district official said the gate was set up without the authorisation of the administration.

This is the third such check gate built by the activists, most of them are members of the influential Khasi Students Union (KSU).

They have been demanding that the police step up anti-infiltration check gates and the Centre impose inner line permit (ILP) system in the northeastern state.

The ILP is a special permit required by residents of other parts of the country to enter and stay for a specified period in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Manipur.

"We have set up a gate at Umkiang to check outsiders' entry into the state," a senior leader of the organisation in the district told PTI.

The Meghalaya Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution urging the Centre to consider extending the implementation of the ILP in Meghalaya in 2019 and it is awaiting the government's nod.

The KSU leader claimed that the influx of outsiders in the past few years has become so huge that the KSU has taken it upon itself to check.

The earlier two gates were erected at Pahammawlein in Ri-Bhoi district and Athiabari area of West Khasi Hills.

Despite infiltration check gates at various entry points into the state, the KSU claimed it has detected over 500 migrant labourers without registration.

A pro-ILP activist was arrested in Shillong on July 11 for checking the documents of migrant labourers in Meghalaya without authorisation.

The KSU claimed its members in the Khasi Jaintia Hills region have driven out over 500 migrant labourers in the past two weeks. PTI JOP NN