INNER LINE PERMIT
EMN
IMPHAL, OCTOBER 14
Critising Nagaland Chief Minister TR Zeliang’s recent comments on Inner Line Permit (ILP), the Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (JCILPS) based in Manipur said Zeliang has undermined the movement in Manipur and Meghalaya.
Earlier, Zeliang told a press interview that ILP had been ineffective in curbing illegal migrant influx into Nagaland, blaming Assam for being the main corridor for the influx.
A statement of JCILPS said neighbouring Assam alone should not be blamed for the constant vast influx of migrant shelters into the North East because the problem lies in the inefficiencies while implementing the regulation.
It said the statements of the Nagaland Chief Minister aimed at demoralizing and diluting the ILP movements in Manipur and Meghalaya as well.
Largely, migrants are entering into the region through Assam where Bangladeshi immigrants are staying in large number, the JCILPS statement said, but added that the situation is still quite different from what is happening in Manipur.
It said Bangladeshi Muslims and Nepali migrants move towards Manipur using Assam and Nagaland as their corridors and they become indigenous people of the state once they settled in Muslim dominated areas or Nepali dominated villages.
In the same manner, Kuki or Naga migrants coming to the state from Myanmar are also keenest to mix together with their respective groups here, the statement said, adding inter-state migrants are also treated as ‘outsiders’ here in the state.
The hope of the people here is to make laws to stop outsiders from becoming land owners and holding political power, it said.
