Nagaland brings ILP in Dimapur

Syllabus subtopic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Prelims focus: About ILP and the areas where it is required, CAB, NRC

Mains focus: Concerns of the northeast states against Citizenship Amendment Bill, its consequences

News: Even as the Lok Sabha debated the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, on Monday, the Nagaland government extended the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system to Dimapur, the commercial hub of the State.

What does it mean?

The decision makes it mandatory for “every non-indigenous person” who entered the district after November 21, 1979, to obtain an ILP within 90 days. They would have to produce documents as evidence to get a certificate from the Deputy Commissioner for exemption from the permit system.

Background

There have been protests across the northeastern States against the Bill that nullifies the 1985 Assam Accord, which called for detection and deportation of anyone who entered the State after March 24, 1971.

The Bill makes the Accord redundant as it is likely to benefit non­Muslims among the over 19 lakh people excluded from the National Register of Citizens.

Other areas/states where ILP is required

Except Dimapur, the ILP has been applicable to the rest of Nagaland. Known as “mini India”, Dimapur district has a mixed population.

Exempt from CAB Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram, protected by the ILP requirement, have been exempted from the provisions of the CAB along with the whole of Meghalaya, Mizoram and the tribal areas of Tripura and Assam as covered in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. Residents of other States have to mandatorily obtain an ILP to visit the protected States.

ILP extended to Manipur

Manipur would be brought under the ILP system, exempting it from provisions of the CAB. Except non­tribal areas in Assam and Tripura, the entire northeast has been exempted from the CAB.

About Inner Line Permit

• Inner Line Permit is a document that allows an Indian citizen to visit or stay in a state that is protected under the ILP system. The system is in force today in three Northeastern states viz Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram.
• No Indian citizen can visit any of these states unless he or she belongs to that state, nor can he or she overstay beyond the period specified in the ILP.

History

• The concept comes from the colonial area. Under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act, 1873, the British framed regulations restricting the entry and regulating the stay of outsiders in designated areas.

• This was to protect the Crown’s own commercial interests by preventing “British subjects” (Indians) from trading within these regions.

• In 1950, the Indian government replaced “British subjects” with “Citizen of India”. This was to address local concerns about protecting the interests of the indigenous people from outsiders belonging to other Indian states.

Concerns

• The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill aims to make it easier for non-Muslim refugees from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan to obtain Indian citizenship.

• If it is implemented with provisions for excluding from its ambit the states under the ILP regime, it means that beneficiaries under CAB will become Indian citizens but will not be able to settle in these three states.

• The North East Students’ Organisation, an umbrella body of all powerful students’ bodies of the regions had reiterated its demand for overall implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) in all NE states.

• The three states that have seen the highest migration and likely to be affected from Citizenship Bill are Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya, none of which has an ILP system.