Much has been written about the demand for the Inner Line Permit System in the State and dwelling at length on the issue would be akin to flogging the proverbial dead horse. However, we can make a few observations vis-a-vis the demand for the implementation of ILPS in the State.
To start with, there is no clear end in sight as to how the demand for the ILPS will unfold as the State government by all appearances is too impuissant to act on its own and hence is bidding time by setting up an all party political committee with the purported intention of deliberating on whether it enjoys the power to implement it by seeking opinions from legal experts and academics alike. It remains to be seen how long the dilatory tactic of the government will work as the civil body leading the charge in the demand for the implementation of ILPS is running out of patience. The civil body enjoying a groundswell of public support at the moment is dictating terms to the State government which is in an unenviable position of being caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.
If the reaction of a former Home Minister who dismissed the proposal of enacting such legislation in the State not so long ago by terming it “insane” is any indication, the ongoing demand for the implementation of ILPS looks Sisyphean. Notwithstanding an official statement which claims that the talks between the civil body spearheading the movement for implementing ILPS and the State government held today has proved eventful, we will take such pronouncements with a pinch of salt as without the blessings of the Union government , the State government in spite of its best intentions cannot implement it.
Despite objections from some quarters who have dubbed the demand for the implementation of ILPS as absurd, regressive and stopping short of stating that it will never materialise, we cannot deny that not any other mass movement in recent history has enjoyed such massive public support in the State. From a purely economical point of view, some economists would say that migrants are good for economics. It makes the labour force more competitive and so on. This is what the people of the State must take notice. In the era of the free market economy, migration is a necessary evil. People in this State, especially the work force, must think ahead and start preparing to stand up to the challenge. People are going to hire those who are willing to work the hardest at the most minimal wages.
On a completely different note, the feeble attempts by some national newspapers to portray the slugfest at the hostel mess of the NIT, Langol as a full blown racial attack on students from outside the State is disappointing. An innocuous brawl between errant students high on testosterones has been totally misrepresented. We beg to know whether some reporters of a highly venerated national newspaper who gave a completely twisted picture of the incident were in town to report on the sorry incident themselves or were reporting about the issue by talking with some students over the phone. Such one-dimensional reporting reminds one of an incident in which an editor of an extremely popular national magazine on being asked how the magazine was dealing with the affairs of the North-Eastern States having replied that they have a bureau in Kolkata.
Leader Writer: Svoboda Kangleicha
