Dimapur, Dec. 27 (EMN): The Chakhroma GBs Union has termed the Citizenship Amendment Act as “nothing but a deliberate attempt to invade and snatch our land by overwhelming the indigenous people with immigrants”.
In a statement issued on Friday, the union maintained that it was baffled as to how the two MPs from Nagaland could vote in favour of such a nefarious law without the least concern about the long-term consequences it could have on the people.
“They should be made answerable to the people for their action. The notion and the argument that the ILP and Art. 371A are there to protect us and that CAA will not be effective because of these special provisions is just ridiculous and nothing can be farther from the truth. The CAA in itself and the arguments given in its support by the pro-CAA are nothing but a sugar coated poisonous pill given to us to kill and annihilate our culture, ethnicity, language and land and resources of our people.
“It is a common knowledge that the ILP had not been able check the influx of immigrants into our land despite being in operation for so many decades, rather it has only become a money-making tool for certain people. It was not a problem for any outsider to procure ILP and enter Nagaland, and we are all witness to how today our economy is being controlled by outsiders who enter Nagaland on temporary permit. So granting citizenship to the immigrants will only facilitate more inflow of outsiders into north-eastern states, particularly Assam and Nagaland who will over run our people completely and take complete control of our land and its resources,” read the statement.
It stated that though Nagaland falls under the Sixth Schedule and exempted from the CAA, it won’t be a problem for these immigrants to procure citizenship from other states and “then enter our land as legitimate citizens of India, and we won’t be in a position to deport them”.
“Once these immigrants enter our land as citizens of India, it is not difficult for them to renew their permit on regular basis or settle permanently after marrying the local people for which we Nagas don’t hesitate knowing that these outsiders control our economy.
“Getting citizenship will mean getting all the rights including the right to vote and employment. Since our markets and economy are already controlled by outsiders it won’t be long before they take control of our politics too once they enter our land as citizens of India having the right to franchise. Once these people take control of our politics, it is only a matter of time when they will wield enormous power over the legislators. If the government can do away with Article 370 in Kashmir without any hesitation, it won’t be a Herculean task for the government to erase Article 371A from the Constitution of India once the vote bank is established. So it will be very foolish on our part to console ourselves by the presence of Article 371A,” read the statement.
It stated that when the country is faced with acute economic and employment crisis, how can the government of India ever imagine bringing in more foreigners and grant them citizenship.
“… the CAA is a very dangerous law particularly for the north-east region, which offers lot of opportunities for outsiders to explore and exploit. In this context, it is confounding that not only did our MPs vote in favour of the Bill, but even our state government chose to remain eerily silent without making a statement in the interest of our people and land. We should all beware that we have nothing to gain and everything to lose in this Act, and the CGBU as custodian and defender of our customary laws will stand opposed to this Act,” it stated.
