Witoubou Newmai
The reverie of ‘authorities’ in the State of Nagaland on home issues has been broken by the exercise of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, leaving over 40 lakh people ‘state-less’ for now. In their knee-jerk response driven by an emotional impulse, these ‘authorities’ have woken up, not really sure of how to address this herculean challenge. While rising to the occasion, some of the ‘authorities’ are harping on the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system, the system which has nothing to do with the issue of (illegal) immigrants or foreigners. However, at the closest, one can infer safely that a non-local in possession of the ILP document cannot be an illegal immigrant or a non-Indian citizen. But again, a non-local not possessing the ILP document cannot be concluded straightaway as an illegal immigrant. Such person can be a mere ILP defaulter. Officially, the Inner Line Permit (ILP) is, "an official travel document issued by the Government of India to allow inward travel of an Indian citizen into a protected area for a limited period.”
We may not call it as 'perceptual limitation' of the concerned 'authorities' on the mechanism to address the illegal immigrant issue but efforts for clarity on the matter will be appreciated.
Whatever the case of approach and strategy, for a young society like the Nagas, the fallout of the NRC exercise in neighbouring Assam may pose a challenge that Nagaland has not faced before. It should, however, be noted that those who do not appear on the current NRC draft also include the indigenous Assamese bringing to fore the flaws in the process.
Though finding an immediate solution to the challenge may be difficult, the government, while indulging in wider perspective, should take the responsibility of creating a space to think and act together with the people. The government should also consider that succumbing to weakness for politicising the issue will invite the restive public for creating unwanted situations.
The government must also realise that the people are not sure of the measures the government is employing to address the issue, as deduced from the media reports. For instance, Christopher Kesosul Ltu, President of the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF), had said that the “government mechanism had failed to check influx of illegal immigrants into Nagaland,” while the Naga Hoho had stated that “it has become imperative for every tribe hoho to seriously take action on the issue of influx of illegal immigrants particularly to urban areas as we cannot depend on government alone.” Again, the Nagaland Tribes Council (NTC) initiated consultative meeting “urged upon the state government to gear up the state machineries and bring out a comprehensive action plan to check illegal immigrants without wasting any more time.”
The government should take the opportunity to win the faith and trust of the public by formulating effective mechanisms to address the issue with the nerve of urgency to subdue public anxiety.
