Indigenous issue: NTC reiterates Dec 1, 1963 as cut-off year

Nagaland Tribes Council (NTC) has reaffirmed its demand that the state government should enforce December 1, 1963 as the cut-off date for an individual to be counted as indigenous inhabitant of Nagaland.
In a statement, NTC said it “would like to ventilate the issues in public domain which are likely to be tampered or altered, the constitutionally delegated privileges bestowed upon the aboriginal and indigenous people at the time of creation of the State- namely; 16-Point Agreement of 1960, Article 371A of the Constitution of India, and the State Government’s standing Notification No. AR-8/8/76 dated Kohima, the 28th April 1978 to maintain 1-12-1963 as the cut-off year for the purpose of indigenous inhabitant of Nagaland.”
The council contended that one of the core issues was the proposal to implement Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN). It recalled that when the people of Nagaland wanted to stem the flow of illegal migration into the State and called for streamlining ILP, the state government came up with the idea of RIIN for the native and aboriginal people, but allegedly let others conveniently go scot-free, which was beyond anyone’s comprehension.
“Maybe, surreptitiously, the government may even have an unsurpassed purpose for the benefit of some few if not jeopardy of the future of Nagaland,” NTC said.
NTC reminded that the 16-Point Agreement, Art 371A and the April 28, 1978 notification were beyond doubt secured by the precious blood of forefathers of Nagas. Terming these as the only protective laws and inherent rights bestowed upon the people against exploitation by outsiders, NTC cautioned that the history of Nagaland should not be rewritten after 60 years of statehood and tamper with it.
“Rather love and protect it for all times to come in praise of our forefathers who had sacrificed their lives for us for today and tomorrow,” it added.
Despite submitting numerous representations with available records, right from the creation of Naga Hills district of Assam to the formation of the present Nagaland, NTC lamented that the government continued turning a deaf ear to this vital issue of concern to date and seemingly was contemplating to do things against the will of its own people.