NPCC says CAA camouflaged by ILP to deceive Nagas

DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 17 (MExN): The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) on Tuesday termed the act of exempting states/areas under Inner Line Permit (ILP) and Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution by the BJP government in the centre as “complete eyewash” while maintaining that “any immigrant getting asylum in any part of the country and after obtaining citizenship can easily travel and sneak into those protected areas to settle down.” 

As Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) 2019 becomes Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), the NPCC observed that it has been met with different reactions in Nagaland. It stated that while Nagaland BJP had wholeheartedly welcomed CAA, the NDPP and NPF after allowing their respective MPs to vote in support of CAB are still hesitant to clearly justify their decision and many CSOs are in confusion over CAA exemption based on ILP. 

It recalled that when all political parties in Nagaland met Home Minister Amit Shah on December 3, 2019, the unanimous demand was for total exemption of CAB from Nagaland. But when CAB was passed in Lok Sabha, exemption was granted on the basis of states having ILP and areas covered under Sixth Schedule. “This innocuous exemption may have pacified some sections of the society but it must be remembered that the non effective implementation of ILP over the years has already resulted in silent invasion of outside people settling in protected area which can no longer be ignored,” the NPCC pointed out. 

While the state government through Notification of 9th Dec 2019 brought Dimapur district under ILP coverage with cutoff date being 21/11/1979, the NPCC however said there are still plenty of grey areas where the state government is unable to address the concerns of all affected people and the issue may get prolonged leading to bitterness and division among the people. 

Maintaining that Nagaland cannot afford to live in isolation under false notion of being safeguarded by ILP, the NPCC speculated the BJP may even decide to scrap the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) 1873 that provides for ILP in its quest for one nation one law, which would then make CAA automatically applicable to Nagaland. 

Also pointing out that Nagaland’s neighbouring states are already on fire and students in universities across the nation are being brutally crushed by police for protesting against CAA, the NPCC said, “At this juncture, our silence will only encourage the BJP government to crush dissenting voices with all the might of government machinery.” 

Therefore rejecting the conditional Citizenship (Amendment) Act exemption for Nagaland based on ILP which the NPCC alleged is “just a plain hoax to fool our people,” it has urged the people of Nagaland to wake up before it is too late.  “All Tribe Hoho’s, CSOs and student bodies should pay more attention to the wolves at our door in guise of CAA that is camouflaged by ILP.”

The NPCC also came down heavily on the two regional parties of Nagaland- NDPP and NPF for “betraying the mandate of the people.” It advised the two parties to merge with BJP rather than take Naga’s for a ride with their “constant political opportunism that is bartering away the rights of future generations.”