Nagaland takes measures on possible Assam NRC fallout

Newmai News Network
DIMAPUR, Sep 3: The state government of Nagaland has started taking up precautionary measures as apprehension persists that there is a strong possibility of "illegal immigrants" sneaking into the State of Nagaland following the release of the final National Registrar of Citizens (NRC) draft in Assam which left out nearly 20 lakh people from the list.
As part of the measures, the district administration of Dimapur convened a meeting on Tuesday which was participated by "various stakeholders" including the Commissioner of Police, Dimapur, all outposts/HQ administrative officers, Assistant Director, Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau (SIB), Dimapur, President, Sadar GB Association, Dimapur; Chairman, Dimapur Urban Colony Council Forum, and colony chairmen/Gaon Buras (GBs) under Dimapur Sadar.  
Meanwhile, the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) said that in view of the final National Registrar of Citizens (NRC) draft having been published in Assam which excluded nearly 2 million people the state government of Nagaland needs to take up measures so that "illegal immigrants" do not enter the state of Nagaland.
To address any fallout of Assam’s NRC exercise, the apex Naga student body demanded that the Nagaland State Government enforces stringent checking of Inner Line Permit (ILP) at all the check gates. It also asked the Nagaland State Police to impose strong punitive measures on ILP defaulters.
The Naga student body then expressed its “deep anguish at the State Government for its inaction in the district of Dimapur and for allowing it to flourish as the floodgate of illegal immigrants in the state.”
According to the NSF, lack of stringent implementation of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) 1873 and the exclusion of Dimapur district from the purview of ILP have made Dimapur district a safe haven for the illegal immigrants.
The NSF also urged the State Government to exercise a strong political will and to immediately act upon the implementation of the ILP regime in Dimapur district as passed on February 21 this year in the Nagaland Legislative Assembly Budget Session and as endorsed in the Abhijit Singh ILP Committee recommendation.
The NSF then appealed to all its federating units and “all right thinking Naga citizens to remain more vigilant on the influx of non-locals and illegal immigrants that is expected to sharply increase in the coming days.”
The apex Naga student body then said that its federating units have been “extensively” conducting verification of Inner Line Permit (ILP) holders in various districts in the past many years.
However, the NSF said that the “lapses and the lack of sincerity within the State Government in the implementation of ILP in the state of Nagaland in its entirety has done irreparable damage on the cultural, economic and demographic aspects”. It then added, “This has negated the very purpose of BEFR Act of 1873 which was enacted to protect and safeguard the Naga ethnicity as an entity of the land and resources from the outsiders.”