Checking inflow of illegal immigrants : The apprehension is real
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: August 21 2018 -

The apprehension is real, very real.

It is this apprehension which drives the JCILPS and again it is this apprehension which has driven the voices of protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.

What has added that sense of urgency in the apprehension of the people is the National Register of Citizens in neighbouring Assam in which at least 40 lakh people have been left out.

The final list is yet to be prepared and while the Government has been urging the people not to panic and wait for the final list of the NRC, this should not mean that the neighbouring States can afford to be caught napping.

Daily reports coming in from Jiribam district which borders Assam are more than alarming in the sense that if more than 50 people without valid documents can be detected on a single day (this is just a random pick out of the reports that have been coming in from the said district), then the total number of displaced people trying to make their way into the State can only be imagined.

It is this apprehension which has led civil society organisations in Nagaland to join hands and demand effective implementation of the ILP in the State in the face of the NRC update in Assam.

The same fear and apprehension can also be detected here. As reports coming in from Jiribam suggest, the police have been put on alert and many have been turned back, but there is no guarantee that some would not have been able to sneak past the security net.

Again the demand raised by HERICOUN and others to update the NRC in Manipur on August 19 should also be seen in the sense of urgency felt everywhere to protect the land and people from the ceaseless movement of people into the State.

The sense of urgency and apprehension in Manipur should be understood in the correct perspective.

If Nagaland, which is Constitutionally protected under Article 371A and by virtue of being a State inhabited by people tagged as STs, feels it necessary to demand effective implementation of ILP in the State, the situation in Manipur demands a much more effective approach to the question at hand.

This is again the reason why the tribal people of Manipur need to understand the sense of anxiety that has led to the demand that the Government enact a legislation to effectively check the influx of non-locals into the State.

The hills are already Constitutionally protected and this is a fact that stands and hence the demand for a legislation to check the incursion of non-locals into the State should not be twisted to suit one’s agenda.

This is the bottomline. So while strict vigil at the border areas, particularly the entry points and a legislation to check the entry of non-locals are needed, it would also do good to clearly understand the observation of Dr Chinglen Maisnam during the public meeting on ‘Discourse on NRC updation in Manipur : Problems and Prospects’ at the State Guest House.

Dr Chinglen was bang on target in observing that the influx of illegal immigrants into the State cannot be curtailed or controlled only through laws and legal protection but also in not creating any vacuum for the non-locals to come in and fill up.

A point which has been repeatedly stressed in this column.

Let there be a legislation and let the people cultivate work culture.