DIMAPUR, APRIL 13 (MExN): The Naga Students Federation (NSF) has said the recent intensified Inner Line Pass checking drive by the Nagaland Police, which detected 644 defaulters over two days, is not evidence of effective enforcement but proof of prolonged systemic failure.
The Inner Line Regulation Commission (ILRC) of the NSF, in a press statement, said the detection of 436 defaulters on April 10 and 208 on April 11 indicated that a significant number of non-indigenous individuals had been residing, working, and operating businesses in Nagaland without valid ILPs for extended periods.
"What is being uncovered today is not a sudden violation, but a long-standing normalisation of illegality," the NSF said.
It also raised a terminological objection, stating that the legally correct term under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873 is "Pass," not "permit." It argued the distinction carries legal weight: a Pass represents a restrictive and conditional system designed to regulate entry into protected areas, while the use of "permit" reduces it to a routine administrative formality.
"Diluting the language of the law has contributed to diluting its enforcement," the statement read.
On the question of accountability, the NSF pointed to district administrations, labour and trade licensing authorities, and municipal or town councils, saying all had enabled widespread non-compliance by failing to integrate ILP verification into routine regulatory processes.
"A regulatory system that is enforced only in phases is, in effect, not being enforced at all," it said.
The NSF called for structural reforms, including mandatory linkage of ILP verification with business licensing and employment, the establishment of a centralised and digitised ILP database for real-time verification, and clear accountability mechanisms where enforcement lapses have occurred.
"The Inner Line Pass is not a symbolic safeguard — it is a legal instrument of protection," the statement said. "The question is no longer whether violations exist, but how long they have been allowed to persist unchecked — and who is responsible for that failure," it added.
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