Demands documentation of indigenous inhabitants certificate
Dimapur, August 4 (MExN): The Joint Committee for Prevention of Illegal Immigrants (JCPI) on Wednesday accused the State government of delaying the implementation of Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN) and expressed its displeasure at the government’s inaction.
The JCPI accused the government of ‘deliberately missing’ the ‘right time’ to table the Banuo Commission’s report on RIIN at the eighth session of the 13th NLA held on August 3, and demanded “documentation and authentication of any indigenous Inhabitants certificate issued henceforth.”
“If the creation of RIIN is to prevent issuance of fake indigenous inhabitants certificates, safety measures should be taken as thousands of such certificates will be issued after the recent results of the post- matriculation and secondary boards,” it stated.
It may be mentioned that the JCPI has been pushing the government to implement the RIIN exercise in the State with December 1, 1963 as the cut-off date and year for identification of indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland. The Banuo Commission was formed to examine all aspects of the proposed exercise.
The JCPI had earlier appealed the Chief Minister (CM) to enact the Banuo Commission report on RIIN during the 7th Session of the 13th Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) held from February 12 last but the commission’s report was not tabled then.
Again, on August 3, during the eighth session of the 13th NLA, the CM had stated that the Banuo Commission’s report would be given ‘at the right time’.
While the failure of the government to enact the law on RIIN led the JCPI to organize a protest rally in March, the Committee said that the government instead called for a consultative meeting on April 16 where a State-level joint consultative committee was constituted with ‘non-stakeholders without legal tribal recognition’ also included with no time frame.
Stating that the COVID-19 pandemic SOPs have not allowed the democratic expression of protests against the government inaction, the JCPI however noted that, the State government indulging in ‘dilly- dally tactics’ is hampering the implementation of RIIN which is a requisite to enforce inner line in Nagaland.
It also asserted that one of the primary causes of the ongoing border issue in Nagaland and other affected North East states is because of the people of “doubtful origin both within the aggressor state, Assam as well as the affected states.”
Seeking immediate documentation of all indigenous certificates issued, the JCPI also demanded that there should be a deadline for the final report of the constituted State level consultative committee. It also objected to the participation of ‘non-stakeholders’ in determining the status of the indigenous inhabitants of the State and sought an explanation behind such rationale.
