Reacting to the exclusion of nearly two million people from the final list of National Registry of Citizens in Assam, Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) has slammed the state government for poor enforcement of the ILP regime as an exodus of illegal immigrants from neighbouring states was expected to Nagaland that would pose the biggest demographic threat on the indigenous inhabitants of the state.
Stating this, NSF president Ninoto Awomi and general secretary Liremo R Kikon also expressed dismay at the state government “for its inaction in the district of Dimapur and for allowing it to flourish as the floodgate of illegal immigrants in the state.”
NSF said lack of stringent implementation of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) 1873 and the exclusion of Dimapur district from the purview of ILP have made the district a safe haven for illegal immigrants.
Naga Students’ Federation maintained that there was imminent threat to the Naga indigenous inhabitants being out-numbered by the populace of illegal immigrants through Dimapur district.
It therefore, urged the state government to exercise a strong political will and immediately act upon the implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) regime in Dimapur district that was passed on the February 21, 2019 in the Assembly Budget Session and as recommended by ILP committee.
NSF demanded strict enforcement of ILP throughout all the check gates and impose strong punitive measures on ILP defaulters by the state police.
It also urged all its federating units and all right thinking Nagas to remain vigilant to the influx of non-locals and illegal immigrants which was expected to sharply increase in the coming days.
Naga Students’ Federation informed that it has been extensively conducting verification of Inner Line Permit (ILP) holders in various districts in the past many years along with its federating units.
However, it said that lapses and the lack of sincerity within the state government in the implementation of ILP in its entirety has done “irreparable damage on the cultural, economic and demographic aspects negating the very purpose of Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act of 1873, enacted to protect and safeguard the Naga ethnicity as an entity of the land and resources from the outsiders.