The Central Nagaland Tribes Council (CNTC) has asked the Nagaland Assembly to take up the report of Inner Line Permit (ILP) Committee, constituted by the State Government last year, in the ensuing 13th Assembly session beginning Thursday.
The committee reportedly submitted its report to the government early this month.
In a release on Wednesday, the council demanded that the issue be taken up without delay as the State had already been swarmed by illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, who make their way through Assam.
It stressed that the issue is most crucial and critical and had long been bothering the Nagas.
“Leaders are elected by the people to serve and provide security to their people. So, it is their foremost responsibility to take up this serious issue without any delay. The onus now lies with the state government to deliver a lasting and permanent solution to this chronic problem,” it said.
The council said the existing ILP system in the State has become almost dysfunctional with no proper data on entry and exit of outsiders in the districts. It said the demand for bringing Dimapur district under the purview of Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873, is genuine as it was a matter of concern for all the Nagas.
It said the problem of illegal immigrants, its magnitude and implications, needed to be taken up with all seriousness, ‘irrespective of political affiliation or colour’, as it is related to the future of the upcoming Naga generations.
Expressing its appreciation to the ILP Committee for bringing out a comprehensive and detailed report and suggesting solutions to solve the issue of illegal immigrants, the council said the unabated influx had not only affected the local economy but also posed a threat to the security and very existence of the Nagas and their future generations in the State.
It demanded that the motivating factors and reasons for the influx should be immediately addressed and looked into with long-term solutions. It feared that with the ongoing rate of influx, the indigenous Naga population would be reduced to a minority in their own land within a short time.