Naga students’ body endorses tribe’s phased bar on “illegal immigrants”

The Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) has backed the resolution adopted by the apex body of the Angami community to bar, in phases, “illegal immigrants” from working or renting property in areas under its jurisdiction.

The NSF has urged other Naga organisations to emulate the Angami Public Organisation (APO) in enforcing the Inner-Line Permit (ILP) and barring people of suspect nationality from working, offering services and renting houses.

Rooted in the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873, the ILP is a temporary travel document Indian citizens need to enter four frontier States (Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, and Nagaland) in the north-eastern region.

An ILP-specific wing of the NSF said the APO’s phased approach would give indigenous and non-indigenous communities time to address illegal immigration and ensure that employment, services, documents and tenancy arrangements comply with the law.