Expressing its total dismay at the Government of India (GoI) for getting the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 passed in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday by refusing to listen to the sentiments of the people of the Northeast, Nagaland Tribes Council (NTC) has declared its support to the democratic protest initiated by North East Students’ Organisation and other like-minded organisations.
In a statement, the council reiterated that the Bill was definitely detrimental to minority communities like Nagas. Warning that the Bill, once enacted by both the Houses of Parliament, would have far-reaching consequences on “weaker States particularly in the Northeast”, NTC strongly urged the Centre Government to come out clear on its policy and programme to tackle the impending threat of the day.
It further warned that Nagaland would be a victim due to the indifference of the PDA government.
Questioning the wisdom of PDA government in soft-peddling the Bill, NTC asked whether the former had failed to understand its purpose and whether it had underestimated the ramifications of the Bill. The council also asked PDA whether it had adopted the policy of accepting whatever was passed onto the State by GoI to be good and decided to mortgage Nagaland at the expense of its indigenous people.
“What has made PDA to be so indecisive and timid to call a spade a spade in the face of Nagaland’s survival being threatened by the Bill?” the statement wondered.
NTC expressed shock over how the State cabinet had resolved on the Bill as reported in the media.
“Even the vocabularies like ‘previous’ is used to denote our protective laws as BEFR of 1873 and Art 371(A) implying as though such laws remained obsolete, whereas those laws are indeed existing and prevailing. Will the Union Govt. pay heed to the resolution so adopted by State cabinet for ‘review’ of the Bill? At this very juncture, the middle path posture is a misnomer as the need of the hour is yes or no,” it stressed.
According to the council, the lukewarm decision of the State cabinet had isolated Nagaland from other North-eastern States, particularly those who opposed the Bill outright, and that Nagaland was “left friendless and voiceless.”
Alleging that the PDA government had already decided not to oppose the Bill on June 5, 2018, NTC pointed out that this decision was reflected in the State cabinet’s decision to convene an all-party meeting to examine the Bill even when it was already on its way in the Parliament after clearances from Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) and Union Cabinet.
According to the council, such an exercise was much behind the time and irrelevant.
“What is the determination of PDA in protecting the settlement of illegal people in Nagaland at the cost of the future of the sons of the soil? What is the wisdom of PDA to resist the eminent flood of influx of outsiders into Nagaland using ILP and Art 371(A) under the enforcement of the Citizenship Bill when the State government has been dragging its feet on extending ILP coverage to Dimapur district and establishing a strong mechanism to check illegal influx?” it asked.
NTC alleged that BJP was determined to create a passage for Hindus living in a few neighbouring countries to come and settle in India under the proposed law. And it had comfortable majority in Lok Sabha, the Bill could be passed just as it had “bulldozed” through JPC.