Panellists agree CAB harmful to Nagas; divided on Art. 371 (A) safety net

Our Correspondent

Kohima, March 4 (EMN): The Naga Scholars’ Association (NSA) Kohima unit conducted a discussion on Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) at Kohima College on Monday.

According to the president of the NSA Kohima, Dr. Zavise Rume, the discussion was to assess and examine the actual content of the CAB; its impact, and to see whether Article 371 (A) offers protection from the Bill.

Prof. Rosemary Dzüvichü was the moderator as well as one of the panellists. She said that though the CAB lapsed in Rajya Sabha, there is still a “danger sign” because it was passed in the Lok Sabha without much opposition.

Citing the Joint Parliamentary Committee report submitted this year, she said that there are 31,000 applicants waiting to be accorded citizenship claiming persecution in the country they come from. Out of those applicants, 25,447 are Hindus from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, she said. According to her, the applicants include 50 Christians, two Buddhists, two Parsis, and 40-something Sikhs.

“If you’re setting up a citizenship law which is based only on religion, which talks about only Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis but leaves out the Muslims, then that itself it not secular,” Dzüvichü said.

According to her, it is more important to talk about a refugee law rather than CAB.  “Perhaps, one of the solutions today is that India has to seriously look for its refugees and bring out a substantial refugee law through proper legislation,” Dzüvichü said. Only then one can seriously talk about the CAB, she added.

Former minister, and spokesperson of the NDPP, Merentoshi R Jamir maintained that granting citizenship to those coming from outside India is not a new thing as it is included in the existing Citizenship Act of 1955. ‘However, the original Act never mentioned about any particular community or religion. But the CAB has included the religious aspects. In fact, the bill is actually inserting certain clauses, which are objectionable to the people of the Northeast,’ he added.

‘The NE region has faced the problem of illegal immigrants, which is why we have realised that this Bill poses a threat to the people,’ he said. According to him, Article 371 (A) gives protection to Nagas.

Jamir said that the moment Nagas start saying Article 371 (A) does not offer protection, it gives rise to danger of the Article being diluted.

‘Whether the CAB is enforced or not, it is most important for Nagas to protect ourselves by ensuring that the Inner Line Permit (ILP) regime and the clauses of Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) are implemented in total,’ he said.

According to him, the present government has taken a huge step by imposing the ILP in the entire state. However, he said, it would come down to how strictly the regime is enforced.

The president of Naga Hoho, Chuba Ozukum said that CAB was a threat to the NE people. He said that to say Nagas are protected from the CAB by Article 371 (A) was misleading. “How one can say that we are protected by Article 371 (A) when there is no relation between CAB and Article 371 (A)? These two are quite different from each other,” he said.

The spokesperson of NPF party, Achumbemo Kikon said that ‘we are not protected by Article 371 (A). It is just an offshoot of the BEFR.’

He went on to say that religious protection cannot be limited to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. “Very soon these ‘illegal immigrants’ are going to overpopulate us if we don’t raise our voice,” he said.

Assistant professor of St. Joseph College, Jakhama, Kelühol Tase said that the contrast between the Citizenship Act of 1955 and CAB is that the former does not allow illegal immigrants; while the CAB allows illegal immigrants.

“The Bill will pose a threat to the unity of the people. It will violate the Constitution of India, owing to the secularism being enshrined in the Constitution.”

Citing the state’s ‘limited and scarce resources,’ he said that if another person comes, resources will reduce. “We should protect our resources,” he said.

He also gave an example of Jakhama village in Kohima district where “illegal immigrants”, especially traders were chased out of the village last year. The impact is that the local people have now started to come up with businesses of their own, he added.