Dimapur, Feb. 4 (EMN): The Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) has appealed to the government of Nagaland to adopt a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) during the fifth session of 13th Nagaland Legislative Assembly, which begins on February 7.
In a letter addressed to Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Tuesday, the federation urged him to place the issue of CAA on the floor of the House for thorough deliberation and adopt a firm resolution denouncing the law “which threatens to annihilate the unique culture, traditions, customs and practices, language of the Naga people”.
Further, the NSF stated its rejection of the CAA. “The law which came into force on January 10, 2020 after it was passed in both the houses of Parliament and its subsequent assent by the President of India on December 12, 2018 is set to open the floodgate for illegal immigrants to infiltrate into our land, thereby, altering the demographic and linguistic uniqueness of the Northeast region in general, and Nagaland in particular.
“The NSF, hereby, reiterates its long-held view that the CAA is anti-secular, anti-minority, anti-indigenous and is violative of the basic ethos of the constitution. Posterity shall hold those proponents and supporters of the controversial law accountable for the ills that the CAA will bring about into our Naga society,” it read.
The federation maintained that it was not in agreement with the state government’s assertion that the CAA will have no impact on Nagaland whatsoever as areas that fall under the Inner Line Permit notified under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation 1873 will be outside the Act’s purview.
“This argument holds no water as the prevailing reality at ground zero clearly proves the contrary. The mechanism in applying ILP has failed miserably in our state, which is known to you. The present Nagaland state is a living example of how illegal immigrants can infiltrate and dominate upon the local people despite the ILP regime being in operation ever since the inception of the state.
“More so, the nationwide exercise of NRC and NPR and their requirements for proper implementation of the discriminatory CAA in the country reeks of agenda that is not in the interest of the citizens of this country but only to further the political interest of some chosen few,” it stated.