Dimapur, September 5 (MExN): The JCPI today stated that the Nagaland Government “should not waste any more time and start implementing the Abhishek Committee findings” on Inner Line Permit and “Immediately declare Dimapur” as an ILP zone.
In a statement issued in the backdrop of publication of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, the Joint Committee on Prevention of Illegal Immigration (JCPI) also asked the state government to immediately set up checkpoints at all the entry points along the entire Disputed Area Belt, whether “ILP or no ILP.”
“When the time for CAB approaches, we’ll talk about it but as of now the government should talk the ILP language,” JCPI asserted in a press statement issued by its convenor, K Ghokheto Chophy and co-convenor Joel Naga, further listing out steps needed to be taken up by the State Government “immediately.”
Among others, JCPI stated that the government should start implementing immediately the ILP Committee findings, which submitted its report in February this year.
Regarding the Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) on ILP/BEFR suggested by the committee, which is along the lines of Mizoram government notification, JCPI said that the SOP should “give more teeth to the government to identify and deport the Lakhs of ILP holders inside the ILP zones of the state – the hill districts – who have set up commercial activities and taken up residency on permanent basis.” “The ILP is only a pass to enter the state for a short or temporary period of time and does not give outsiders the right to engage in commercial activities,” it asserted, terming it “illegal.”
“Except for bonafide central and state government servants/PSU employees/bank officials, tourists on visit, etc., all ILP holders–cum–traders should be identified and their valid ILP cancelled and deported from the districts,” it argued.
Meanwhile, while calling for expediting the Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN) exercise, it with further demanded for immediate declaration of Dimapur as an ILP zone.
The JCPI also expressed its bewilderment as to why it “so difficult” for the government declare the same when the former Governor PB Acharya himself had said that Dimapur should come under ILP and the Supreme Court has already dismissed the PIL against ILP.
'It is within the scope of legality to impose ILP in Dimapur,’ it maintained.
Instead JPCI said it is beginning to suspect that the government is being “vindictive” in its approach, without elaborating further.
“It hasn’t shown the maturity or the decisiveness on an issue,” it noted, adding people would be grateful if “their interest is protected.”
In this connection, the JCPI stated that it would be forced to declare in public the aforesaid committee findings if its full scope is “not unleashed for implementation.” The CSOs and student bodies in all the districts should be ready for any eventuality, it added.
