Shillong, June 29: BJP legislator AL Hek on Monday said the party is yet to receive a reply on the demand for constitutional recognition of local languages.
Hek said the BJP has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi again seeking inclusion of Khasi and Garo in the Eighth Schedule. “We had written a letter recently to the prime minister to include the Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India,” he said.
According to Hek, the language that meets all laid-down criteria should be prioritized.
On the status of the request, Hek said no reply has been received so far.
“We have not received any response yet, but we have sent the letter not only from my side but also from the BJP Meghalaya president’s office. We also requested that whichever of these two languages fulfills all the criteria should be given priority,” he said.
Hek also said efforts are underway at both the party and government levels to push for an Inner Line Permit in Meghalaya, but any mechanism adopted must avoid “one-sided restriction” and safeguard tourism as well as transit movement through the state.
“At our level and from the government level, we are pursuing that. The government should consider this, but there have to be dos and don’ts. It cannot be a one-sided restriction. It should benefit the people who are coming to this side and also benefit the state for development through the tourists coming to the state of Meghalaya,” the Pynthorumkhrah MLA told reporters.
