Joint Committee on Prevention of Illegal Immigration (JCPI) Monday demanded that the state government “announce” the declaration of Dimapur as ILP zone and begin its pre-implementation exercise from now so by the time the Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN) exercise was done and over by September, the full and official implementation of ILP in Dimapur and elsewhere would begin without delay.
In a press release, JCPI convenor K Ghokheto Chophy and secretary Tia Longchar stated that the state government cannot fool the people by simply adopting a Cabinet resolution to implement the ILP in Dimapur.
JCPI also stated that the opposition to RIIN by “some defunct organisations” should not give the government the excuse to delay announcement of implementation of ILP in Dimapur. “If this happens, the people will take to the streets to protect the integrity of the state at any cost,” JCPI cautioned.
At the moment, the committee stated that the state government appeared “running scared” of “un-mandated and faceless organisations” rather than protecting the demographic position of the state.
Admitting that RIIN was indispensable for effective implementation of ILP in Nagaland, JCPI, however, stated that the government cannot afford to be “bogged down by the voices of busybodies and their negative posturing.” It maintained that whoever stood for BEFR of 1873 must welcome RIIN.
According to JCPI, establishing the identity of indigenous inhabitants was a basic necessity, which should have been done since the inception of statehood.
Stating that the present exercise of RIIN has been taken up after many collateral damages, JCPI, however, said it was never too late and all the stakeholders irrespective of political party, ethnicity or organisational affiliation, must “unequivocally support” the identification process.
Further, JCPI appealed that none should confuse the general public on RIIN. It affirmed that cut-off date of December 1, 1963 was only for the purpose of identifying non-Nagas and Nagas from other states who may be qualified to be called indigenous inhabitant of Nagaland. Otherwise, JCPI said Nagas (and Kacharis, Kukis, Garos, Mikirs) of Nagaland were indigenous to the state and the cut-off criterion did not apply. “Similarly, on the pressure from certain quarters to set the cut-off date as 1977, the JCPI will be on warpath if this is even mooted by the government,” the committee warned. At a time when the status of J&K has been downgraded, JCPI said “only traitors will be ranting against RIIN.”