Kohima, August 27 (MExN): The Nagaland Tribes Council (NTC) today termed a notification issued by the Deputy Commissioner, Kohima regarding the publication of draft updated list of non-Naga Local Indigenous Nepal/Gorkha residents under the district as “disturbing” and urged for its withdrawal.
As per the NTC, the notification, published by the DC Kohima on August 22, stated that the qualifying for inclusion in the draft list is up to June 11, 2016.
According to the NTC, the notification is disturbing as it 'substituted' the constitutionally delegated Government of Nagaland’s standing Notification No. AR-8/8/76 dated Kohima, dated April 28, 1978, maintaining 1-12-1963 as the cut-off year for the purpose of indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland.
The DC Kohima’s qualifying month and year, thus, is “imaginary,” it added.
Accordingly, the NTC urged upon the Government of Nagaland to immediately direct the DC Kohima withdraw the notification on “Nepal/Gorkhas Census qualifying for inclusion in the list up to June 11, 2016.”
In a press statement issued by its Media Cell, the NTC further pointed out that the the Commission Report on Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN) has not even become a law.
“However, an individual as authority in the government, without mentioning RIIN, wants to arbitrarily enforce in advance the Part-D of RIIN report under ‘Recommendations’ at P/58, E. Proof of permanency of residence: ‘(1) Electoral Roll from 1963 to 2019 with a personal declaration of not having been enrolled in any other State’,” it added.
“This is highly irregular and therefore severely hurt the sentiments of native people,” the NTC further claimed.
Hence, besides objecting the DC Kohima’s notification, the Council further questioned the “soundness as to under what State’s policy, Act and Law of the land” has the DC been directing the exercise authoritatively.
It also noted that conducting Census of the Nepal/Gorkhas who settled in Nagaland on or before 1-12-1963 as well as maintaining digital records, updated the offspring and descendants are encouraged but not otherwise.
“In fact the non-Naga Nepal/Gorkhas settled in Nagaland prior to 1-12-1963 had in many occasions expressed desire that the afore-mentioned cut-off year be maintained in Nagaland,” the NTC maintained.
In this connection, it urged the State Government to immediately direct DC Kohima to withdraw the said notification.
In doing so, the NTC further insisted that the Government of the day should ‘incorporate the constitutionally’ delegated notification dated April 28, 1978, maintaining cut-off year of “1-12-1963” for the purpose of Indigenous Inhabitant Nagaland as “Recommendation No. 1.”
The recommendation of Proof of permanency of residence at P/58, ‘E. Proof of permanency of residence’ as referred in the notification should be deleted forthwith if not in consonance with 1-12-1963 for the sake of peace and tranquility in the State, it added.
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