In solidarity with rest of the North-eastern states, activists of the North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) and Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) burned copies of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) rules at the NSF Martyrs Park here on Tuesday to protest their implementation as announced by the Centre the previous day.
Speaking to the media, NESO secretary general MutsikhoyoYhobu said the biggest threat to Nagaland and other tribal states in the Northeast was the influx of illegal immigrants. Yhobu said even though Nagaland was exempted from the purview of the CAA since it was under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, he pointed out that Assam and Tripura were corridors for the illegal immigrants. He said if CAA was implemented in these two states, it would affect all the states of the region, including Nagaland. He informed that NESO units were staging the protest across all the state capitals in the region and burning copies of CAA rules.
Yhobu also maintained that CAA rules will virtually finish the indigenous people of Nagaland and the Northeast. In this he cited the population of indigenous Tripuris who were currently 25 to 30 percent only in Tripura. Also he said the indigenous population in Assam currently was about 30 to 35 percent while the rest being the illegal immigrants.
“Today, when we look at our own state, including Dimapur, the situation is alarming. The population of Nagas in Dimapur is only about 20 to 25 percent. Hence, the NSF had been demanding that the state government expands ILP to Dimapur. Now, if the CAA is implemented in the Northeast, it will finish all tribal people,’ he warned.
Yhobu appealed to all the state governments in the region to support the students bodies that were opposing the CAA rules.
Admitting that the student community did not have the authority to go against the government, Yhobu however pointed out , that if every state government joined hands with the student community,the Central government would listen. He also urged the Centre to reconsider its decision to implement CAA in the region.
Former NSF president KTep recalled that the federation had been protesting against the Act since the beginning because it went against secularism. He however lamented that despite their protest, the Central government made sure that Bill was passed in Parliament and later announced the rules.
He termed the notification of the CAA as a sad day since it against the people’s will. He said NESO stood in solidarity with those opposing CAA implementation in other North-eastern states.
Tep said many people including some intellectual and students were happy that Nagaland was exempted from the purview of CAA. He cautioned that CAA was a threat on the indigenous people of not only Nagaland but the entire indigenous people of the North-eastern region.
He said CAA was not only a threat to states like Assam or Tripura but foresaw its negative impact on the indigenous people of the entire region. Appealing to the student fraternity to ensure that the inflow of illegal immigrants was checked properly, Tep hoped that the protest taking place in all the state capitals of the Northeast would be heard by the Central government.