DIMAPUR, JULY 16 (MExN): The Chakhroma GBs Union (CGBU) today said that the government’s policy to implement ILP on the basis of Registry of Indigenous Inhabitants (RIIN) is “rather absurd and will pose serious threat to preservation of our unique identity.”
A press note from the CGBU President, Thepfukedo Kuotsu and General Secretary, Atso Gwizan stated that “if RIIN is to be implemented at all, it should be applied and indigenous status be granted only to the Nagas of Nagaland, but it is preferable if the implementation of RIIN is kept in abeyance if it is likely to create problems to the indigenous people of Nagaland.”
Expressing serious reservations on the RIIN implementation, the CGBU cautioned that if not properly implemented “it could become a bane rather than a boon and could seriously intrude into the rights and privileges of the indigenous Nagas of Nagaland.”
“If Indigenous status is granted to non Nagas who are settled in Nagaland prior to 1963, even non-Nagas will become indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland with the right to own landed properties and become entitled to privileges which otherwise is reserved only for Nagas. Non-Nagas who are settled in Nagaland prior to 1963 can be considered as permanent resident of Nagaland but can never become indigenous inhabitant of Nagaland,” the CGBU said.
It added that Indigenous Inhabitant status can be conferred “only to the Nagas of Nagaland who are Nagas by blood.”
