Nagaland Tribes Council demands 1963 as cut-off-year for RIIN implementation

Highlighting the its major concern on the issue of citizenship of the indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland, the Nagaland Tribes Council has sought the state government to look into the burning issue of the Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN) which was rightly mooted by the state government of Nagaland. 

“No nation on earth can neither be oblivious nor be complacent of its citizenship. It is therefore pertinent for the Government of Nagaland to have sincerely perused the same by means of constituting a Commission headed by Banuo Z Jamir whose team completed its assignment and eventually submitted the report to the Government. However, it was disappointing to observe that the Government made a U-turn in its pursuance of the issue as it has kept the report in cold storage for more than two years since it received the report”, said the NTC in its statement. 

“The NTC urges upon the Government of Nagaland to peruse the given report without inhibition as the RIIN is as indispensable as food is to animate elements as for the survival of Nagaland is concerned. And as and when the RIIN is implemented, the cut-off year has to be 1.12.1963. Under no circumstances the faulty method of registration can be incorporated or the cut-off year can be neither relaxed. 

Improper registration of citizenship will endanger the very existence of the bona fide indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland. The exercise of the RIIN has to be done without fear or favour,” affirmed NTC.

Raising concerns on the Nagaland Special Development Zones (NSDZs), the Nagaland Tribes Council has come down heavily on the state government for initiating projects in the hilly areas dominated by the tribal community without preparing any blueprint project report. 

“The proposed plan is to earmark the whole area of the foothills from Tizit in Mon District to Khelma in Peren District now covering 8 Districts, namely, Mon, Longleng, Mokokchung, Wokha, Niuland, Chümoukedima, Dimapur and Peren to be the so-called Special Development Zones without any blueprint project report,” said NTC in their press release.

Realizing that the entire project is being accepted and carried on the lines as per the state cabinet decision on NSDZ and thus adopted by the Nagaland Legislative Assembly on March 24, 2014, the NTC enumerated the problematic clauses mentioned in the concept note circulated on the directions of the Chief Secretary of Nagaland to all concerned Commissioners and Secretaries of the state on November 25, 2013. 

“Whereas, under Serial No.10 of the Concept Note Clause (i): The first aspect will be to restructure the land tenure system through an intensive cadastral survey identifying the ownership. Clause (ii): Such an exercise will be followed by the introduction of title and ownership deeds and their registration to give legal coverage and sanctity. Clause (iii): Such a process is intended to regulate the land tenure system to facilitate legal ownership and transfer of land and thereby facilitate investment and industrialisation. Clause (iv): This will entail the relaxation of the existing systems of land ownership and tenure systems that are largely tribal in nature. Clause (v): In such SDZs the ILP system based on the BEFR (Bengal Frontier Regulation of 1873) will need to be relaxed,” mentioned NTC in its press release.

“The aforementioned clauses have made it clear that within the earmarked areas of NSDZs will be bereft of the enforcements of ILP and the Nagaland Land (Amendment) Act of 1978. Virtually the areas under NSDZs will remain outside the purview of Art 371-A whereby the vast plain foothill sectors will be offered to strangers for permanent settlement”, continued NTC in their press statement.

Fearing that the NSDZs when implemented and enforced will convert Nagaland’s limited plains into no man’s land, the NTC in its public rally at Wokha on September 30, 2014, adopted two resolutions as mentioned in the press statement, “The Rally unequivocally resolved to nullify the No Objection Certificates (NOC) obtained by Government from the individual landowners within Lotha territory in the guise of development and translated as secured documents for the NSDZs. Resolved to authorize the NTC to pursue the matters till the above demands are made. To our utter surprise, the State Government stealthily obtained the NOCs from the private landowners in the foothill area in Wokha District and those landowners came forward to nullify the NOCs publicly on their own violation in the rally. The same resolutions were adopted earlier in Zunheboto Rally on September 9, 2014”.

Raising concerns on the plight of the citizens who will be facing trouble following the assembly resolution on the NSDZs, the NTC urges the State Government to revoke the Cabinet decision on NSDZs and repeal the Nagaland Legislative assembly Resolution of 24th march, 2014 on NSDZs “as such would create the earmarked areas to become the buffer zone for subjugating our land and our gullible population into secondary citizens to the intruders,” said NTC in its press release.