NAGALAND: EX-CM TR ZELIANG QUESTIONS RIO ON CITIZENSHIP BILL

17 July 2018:

Former Nagaland Chief Minister TR Zeliang said the state Cabinet had taken the decision on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 without understanding its content, significance and possible ramifications.

In a letter to Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, he stated that the decision taken on June 5 by the state Cabinet “possibly reveals the ignorance of the State Cabinet on the said bill”.

Talking about the apprehension expressed by various organisations including the Naga Students’ Federation, Zeliang said: “The Cabinet feels that Nagaland is protected under Article 371 (A) of the Constitution of India and the Inner Line Permit regulations. However if the proposed amendment goes against the interest of the Nagas, the Government of Nagaland will oppose such amendments. Otherwise, the Government of Nagaland will not interfere in national policies”.

He said Article 371 (A) was in no way connected to the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016. According to him, the bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Act of 1955 to provide citizenship to illegal migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who are of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian extraction. However, the Inner Line Permit, which is in place in the state, only provides for access to outsiders for inward travel to Nagaland.

Pointing out the unabated infiltration of illegal immigrants into Nagaland; Zeliang cautioned that relying on unconfirmed hypothesis such as protection under Article 371 (A) and ILP regulations is a “grievous fallacy.”

He stated that the Cabinet agenda contained objectives which were “contradictory and inconsistent in itself where it states that if the proposed amendment goes against the interest of the Nagas, the Government of Nagaland will oppose such amendments.”

Zeliang claimed that the agenda revealed the “ignorance of the state Cabinet and thus, indecisiveness on the contentious matter or even worse; the decision was taken out of compulsion to gratify the central government at the cost of the Naga people.”

“If the bill is beneficial for the Nagas, the state government must support it but on the contrary, concluding that the Government of Nagaland will not interfere in national policies without understanding the implications of the bill is a clear threat on the Nagas and their identity,” Zeliang said.

He asked the Nagaland CM to clearly spell out on what grounds the state Cabinet had decided “not to oppose the said bill.