The Naga Hoho on Friday said the Nagaland Assembly should hold a special session to pass a resolution against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill before it is passed in the Rajya Sabha.
The Hoho also asked for convening the special session of the Assembly to discuss the People’s Democratic Alliance (PDA) government’s claim that the Bill does not infringe upon Article 371(A) that provides special provisions to Nagaland to protect the Nagas, according to a Press release issued by the media cell of the Hoho.
It accused the PDA government in the State of not taking a strong stand on the Bill.
“Linking Bengal Eastern Regulation Act of 1873, also called Inner line Permit (ILP), with Citizenship (Amendment) Bill by the state government is either total ignorance or a political game,” the Hoho said in a statement issued by its media cell.
The Hoho further asked the JDU, the National People’s Party and an Independent member, apart from NDPP and BJP, to spell out their stand to the Naga people on the Bill as coalition partners of PDA.
Stating that it has been voicing its opposition to the Bill ever since its introduction, the Hoho extended full support to the NSF’s boycott call of the Republic Day celebrations.
Calling the Bill “anti-indigenous people in nature”, the Hoho said it was also with other organisations and student bodies who were concerned and alarmed over it.
The Hoho also rejected the “sinister design” of BJP-led NDA government at the Centre to curb the inherent rights of the indigenous people of the Northeast.
It further said Nagaland being not far from Assam, had become a matter of great concern. The over-populated migrant-prone Nagaland is bound to be severely affected by over 40 lakh non-Indian citizens who did not figure in the National Register of Citizens final draft in Assam, it feared.
The release said BJP president Amit Shah’s statement in West Bengal on January 21 that all Bengali refugees would be granted Indian citizenship justified the Hoho’s concern for Nagaland.