The Joint Committee on Prevention of Illegal Immigrants (JCPI) on Saturday submitted its inputs to the Commission on Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN).
The inputs submitted by the JCPI are related to the terms of reference of the register as per the July 27 government notification.
The JCPI, which has been spearheading movement on the inner-line permit (ILP) issue since August 8, 2018, said, “Any piecemeal exercise would be tragic and betrayal to our future generation.”
It also said if the Bengal Easter Frontier Regulation (BEFR) 1873 is implemented in Dimapur and in the hill districts in letter and spirit not even a single non-indigenous person can set up business in the state.
If the BEER 1873 is implemented in its original form, non-indigenous people would also not be able to buy property and live permanently in ILP-notified Nagaland, the JCPI said.
This stringent provision has been violated and made a mockery of in the past decades, JCPI said.
The committee said the British India government designed the BEFR 1873 in such a manner that only indigenous people could live, work, earn, buy property and move around in the ILP areas.
It asked the commission to take a decision with regard to the lakhs of non-indigenous people in the state who have bought land and buildings worth hundreds of crores, especially in Dimapur area.
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This is in total violation of the Nagaland Land and Revenue (Amendment) Act 1978, the committee said.
It said the cut-off year to determine the indigenous status of a person should be December 1, 1963 and it should not be non-negotiable.
“Our position on ‘native Naga’ or more commonly understood by the slogan ‘Nagas by blood’ should be studied in all seriousness by the commission,” it said.
The committee said the commission is to decide on the question “who is a Naga” and it is expected that it would avoid any sort of controversy on the matter.
“The legal definition of ‘who is a Naga’ is not acceptable – whether through customary law by way of conferring of so-called ‘citizenship’ or through procurement of legal documents,” the committee asserted.
According to it, the one and the only definition of “who is a Naga” is someone, who is born to true indigenous Naga parents.
The committee said the gaon buras (GBs) of Dimapur Sadar/urban area should be empanelled by the district administration for assistance in the RIIN exercise under no circumstances.