DIMAPUR, JANUARY 14 (MExN): The Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) has cautioned the Election Department, Government of Nagaland on the issuing of Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) to illegal immigrants, during the recent exercise of certification of de-publication and error correction of Electoral Rolls for Summary Revision 2014.
A press note from the NSF President and General Secretary stated that at a juncture “when Nagas are realizing that the presence of illegal immigrants is a threat to the very social fabric of our Naga society, we cannot afford to legalize their identity by issuing the EPIC, which will surely become a valid document in the near future.”
It informed that as per the Election Department’s Draft E-Roll 2014, nearly one lakh possible duplicate voters have been identified. It noted that there are almost the same numbers of non local voters with Naga names in every district, particularly in Dimapur. Therefore, it asserted that Nagas must realize the consequence of giving voting rights to illegal immigrants.
The NSF cited Tripura as an example, where “the indigenous people,” it said, “have been marginalized by the outsiders and have become minority in their own ancestral land.” It added that in Assam, illegal immigrants have “completely dominated many districts, particularly in the areas bordering Bangladesh, which has completely changed the social, cultural and religious practices of the indigenous inhabitants.”
The NSF queried if Nagas are going to remain “a mute spectator when we can see what is happening or are we going to act to save our future?” It asserted that “if we remain a silent spectator today then our future generation will regret the unfolding of the annihilation during our life time.”
It appealed to the concerned department, district administration and officials involved for such certification and detection of illegal voters to exercise their authority without fear or favor.
NSF further cautioned that the “Naga future generation will question the treacherous act of any individual, group or organization who tries to protect the illegal immigrants for their selfish interest and benefit at the cost of our future generation.”
