Dimapur, Aug. 4 (EMN): The Joint Committee for Prevention of Illegal Immigrants (JCPI) has demanded the government of Nagaland to immediately start documenting and authenticating indigenous inhabitant certificates issued henceforth, maintaining that ‘thousands of such certificates will be issued following the recent declaration of post-matriculation and secondary board exams results’.
The JCPI stated in a press release that such safety measures should be taken if ‘the creation of Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN) is to prevent issuance of fake indigenous inhabitant certificates.
It also demanded that there should be a deadline for the final report of the constituted state-level consultative committee on RIIN.
While maintaining that it was instrumental in bringing Dimapur under the BEFR Act 1873/ILP (Inner Line Permit), the JCPI stated that the Constitution of India had mandated the enforcement of the Act in entire Nagaland state at the time of granting statehood on December 1, 1963. As such, it said this date should be the cut-off date and year for identification of indigenous inhabitant of Nagaland.
“However, successive governments of the state left Dimapur outside ILP zone until the present government issued the notification on 9th December 2019 with different date of cut-off year for identification of its inhabitants which has not only violated the established laws of the land but much against the wishes of the native people of the state. This arbitrary notification with the reason best known to the people in authority led to the formation of Banuo Commission on RIIN,” read the press release.
The JCPI recalled that it organised a protest rally on March 19 this year in Kohima and Dimapur and submitted a representation for implementation of RIIN through an ordinance with December 1, 1963 as cut-off date and year after the state government failed to enact the Banuo Commission Report into an Act during the 7th Session of the 13th Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA).
It went on to say that the government called for a consultative meeting in April wherein a “state-level joint consultative committee was constituted where non stakeholders without legal tribal recognition were also included with no time frame”.
The JCPI stated that “the participation of the non stakeholders to determine the status of the indigenous inhabitant of the state is highly objected to and seek an explanation behind such rationale”.
It lamented that RIIN wasn’t enacted in the ongoing 8th session of the 13th NLA, which will conclude on Thursday.
The committee also accused the government of hampering the implementing of RIIN by indulging in delay tactics.
‘One of the primary causes of the ongoing border issue in Nagaland and other effected Northeast states is because of the people of doubtful origin both within the aggressor state, Assam as well as the effected states. Without the identification of the indigenous inhabitant within Nagaland, we are heading to be the next Tripura,’ it stated.