Consider customary practices and laws before RIIN: NNPGs WC

DIMAPUR, JULY 21 (MExN): The Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) Working Committee (WC) today said that the Nagaland State Government must delve into the preamble of the Naga peace process before embarking on the Registry of Indigenous Inhabitants (RIIN).

A press note from the NNPGs WC media cell stated that the state government must peruse on the agreed position drawn between Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) and the Government of India, adding that the Council of Ministers “cannot evade or escape from their collective responsibility and accountability to the Nagas.” 

Reminding that the Government of India has recognized the historical and political rights of the Nagas along with Naga Customary practices and procedures and the right to self determine their future, the committee said that all these entries together with others in the agreement drawn on November 17, 2017, reinstates the “sovereign rights enjoyed by the Nagas at the time India became an Independent Nation.” 

It pointed out that every Naga is a citizen of the village from where their ancestors hailed and that every village is an independent City State with their own customs, procedures, laws and practices. “The village has the decisive power on what laws to be applied and what should not. Every village is a constituent of their respective country as per their original identity as a ‘Tribe.’  There is no unwanted or unrecognized Naga who do not belong to a village within the political boundaries of Nagaland and there is no ‘Urban Nagas’,” said the NNPGs WC 

It opined that every village should maintain a record of their population and issue Personal Identity Cards under the seal of the Village authority. “Naga women marrying non Nagas and outsiders shall not have the right to have Naga identity of Nagaland. The same applies to their children. It is an indigenous practice to safeguard Naga lineage…,” it claimed.

The committee further stated that in Nagaland, citizenship of the Nagas is “totally vested within the village authority,” and that “no one without certification of origin from any village or parent village can be enrolled into the records of the Nagaland Government.” “It is a clear piece of customary law and procedure that any Naga living in Nagaland without ancestral lineage from any parent village within Nagaland boundaries cannot be a citizen of Nagaland, including those from Naga territories outside the present Nagaland,” it stated.

The NNPGs WC further pointed out that the only revenue land in Nagaland is Dimapur Mouza, on which the Government of Nagaland can enforce any law made by it on all such matters. “In order to enumerate and certify the identity of the Nagas or to create any such registry, the Government of Nagaland should endorse village authorities of the respective Naga countries. Non Nagas or Nagas who are not from Nagaland cannot own any piece of land in Nagaland and shall not be enlisted as bonafide inhabitants of Nagaland,” it added.

The committee reasoned that any descendents, who had established villages prior to the withdrawal of the British from the Naga “countries” can alone be treated as Indigenous Inhabitants, “provided they have records of paying tributes to parent Naga villages.” “Non Nagas or Nagas who do not belong to any village of any Naga tribes of Nagaland the question of ownership of land in Nagaland does not arise,” it said.

The committee therefore asked the Nagaland State Government to take cognizance of the underlying principles of Naga customary laws, practices and procedures of the Nagas in this matter. “All social, political organizations and NGOs should desist from issuing any certificate of Indigenous/ origin/ Citizen Certificates or make such recommendations to any of the offices so as to keep our history clear for future generation,” it added.