While reiterating its demand for bringing Dimapur under the ambit of Inner Line Permit (ILP), Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) has asked the State government not to mix it up with the proposed Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN).
This was stated by NSF president Ninoto Awomi and vice-president Dievi Yano. The federation insisted that the government should not mix RIIN with ILP regime as the former was under the consideration of the committee being set up by the government. It also demanded that the government should not delay the implementation of ILP further due to RIIN or any other reason whatsoever.
NSF demanded that ILP be implemented in Dimapur district in toto and also called for envisaging an effective mechanism to protect all genuine citizens.
Demanding a time-bound period for implementing ILP effectively, NSF said it endorsed the Abhishek Singh panel recommending ILP implementation in Dimapur district.
The federation also demanded strict implementation of ILP as highlighted in its past representations and memorandums, while calling for showing the political will on the part of the government to deliver on its commitment.
NSF also announced that it had directed its federating units to effectively carry monitoring and verifying any matter related to the issue. Stating that it would carry out checking and verification any time, it warned that in the event of any defaulter being detected, immediate action would be taken.
Pointing out that ILP was 146-years-old and had passed the test of time, NSF lamented that successive governments had miserably failed to implement and execute ILP diligently and sincerely for more than six decades, and instead allowed the racket to flourish all through the years.
Asserting that there was no better document to regulate the flow of tourists and control influx of illegal immigrants than ILP, the federation said the system required a tough and honest government run by tough and honest leaders, tough and honest bureaucracy backed by tough and honest people. And amidst “bizarre claims on Dimapur”, it said the government must act.
Mentioning that it had been extensively conducting verification of ILP holders in various districts for the past many years along with its federating units, NSF said it was perturbed to find that ILP had not been properly implemented even as influx of Illegal immigrants was posing as the biggest demographic threat to indigenous inhabitants of the State.
“Over the years, we have been demanding over and over again for effective implementation of ILP regime in Dimapur. Lack of stringent implementation of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BERF) 1873 and exclusion of Dimapur district from the purview of ILP have made Dimapur district a safe haven for Illegal Immigrants,” it added.
Alleging that an overwhelming population with doubtful identities were residing in Dimapur district, NSF said this was evident from the fact that most of them did not possess any documents as proof of their identity.
The federation warned that if Dimapur was allowed to be converted into a melting pot and overwhelmed by people with “questionable identities”, rest of Nagaland and the entire North-eastern hills would be dominated by illegal immigrants, “threatening our identity, culture and our very survival and resulting in societal destruction”.
“Nagaland was too small and its population little to handle this undeniable threat to the extent where our people could easily be made refugees in our own land,” the statement added.