By K.K.Muktan
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Nepal on August 3-4, assumes, amongst other things, special significance for the people of North Eastern States. Mr. Modi, during his address, assured the Nepalese Constituent Assembly that India would review the terms of the Indo-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship 1950. Ever since the agreement, the political scenarios of both the countries have undergone a sea change and the very relevance of the treaty has become a matter of controversy. In Nepal the autocratic Rana regime, the party to the above treaty, ended up dramatically while in India there was a change in the geo-political scenario caused by reorganization of states and birth of new states carved out of Assam.
Inter-states migration of people for economic pursuits and the influx of foreign nationals from Bangladesh created an acute socio-political unrest all over the North eastern region including Meghalaya. The situation was further compounded by the immigration of Nepalese nationals from Nepal under the cover of Indo-Nepal Peace Treaty of 1950 which allowed the nationals of Nepal and India free entry into each others territories without any passport or visa. Article 7 of this treaty provides that the Government of India and Nepal agree ” to grant, on reciprocal basis, to the nationals of one country in the territories of the other, the same privileges in the matter of residence, ownership of property, participation in trade and commerce, movements and other privileges of similar nature”. Understandably, this agreement has had a tremendous impact on the demographic structures of both the countries resulting in undue pressure on the limited socio-economic opportunities available to the people of the two countries.
According to an estimate nearly six million people of Nepalese origin are residing in various parts of India including North-East region while approximately four million people of Indian origin are settled in the Terai region of Nepal bordering Bihar. Apart from the above population who are permanently settled in one another’s country, there are a great number of other seasonal workers and floating population who come and go and yet many of whom stay back and settle down permanently. Unfortunately, no one knows, how many of these people are crossing the border every day and who they are, as the border is always free to them and there is no record to show their number or their identification. It is on this count that the Indo-Nepal treaty, 1950 has been seen as an anachronism and irrelevant to the time and situation of a developing country like India in general, and detrimental to the interest of tribal people of the North East, in particular.
The people of North East have always expressed their concern about the influx of foreigners and outsiders into their states in the past. During 1970s and 80s North-East saw an unprecedented occurrence of ethnic violence characterized by large scale arson, looting and killing of alleged foreigners and inter-state migrants. There was a mass uprising among the people of Assam, the hill tribes of Meghalaya and other hill states who demanded detection and deportation of foreigners, re-introduction of Inner Line Permit system and stoppage of free entry of Nepalese nationals into India by amending the provisions of the Indo-Nepal Treaty, 1950. As a result of this, the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, by a Notification No. 25022/110/76-F1(11) dated 30 July, 1976 amended the Foreigners(Restricted Areas) Order 1963 and prohibited the Nepalese nationals from entering into North East region without valid permit. But due to lack of proper vigilance and stringent enforcement of the Order on the part of the Police departments of the states, infiltration of Nepalese nationals has continued unabated. It must be mentioned here that the coal mine owners, contractors and businessmen of Meghalaya who prefer to entertain cheap labour from Nepal and other parts of India, are no less responsible for this infiltration.
The census report of 2011 that showed a sudden rise in the growth rate of population in Meghalaya, once again raised the eye-brows of many a sensible citizen of the state. They believe that such a high rate of population growth above the national average, could not have happened without the influx of outsiders. The KSU and other NGOs of Meghalaya have once again raised their voice demanding abrogation of the Indo-Nepal Treaty, 1950 and re-introduction of Inner Line Permit system. They have every reason to feel scared of illegal immigration of foreign nationals into their traditional home land and legitimate right to protect and preserve their distinct identity. The Nepali community living permanently in Meghalaya and North-East states share the sentiments of their local neighbours and welcome legal restriction on the Nepalese nationals from entering into North Eastern states for more than one reason. Firstly, the presence of fresh Nepali nationals in the region tend to arouse unhealthy ethnic sentiments among their local neighbours with whom they have been living in peace and amity for generations, and secondly, on many occasions they are mistaken for newcomers and unduly get victimized by NGOs.
The Assam Gorkha Sammelon, the only representative body of the Indian Nepalis living in the North-East, hailed the restriction imposed on the Nepalese nationals by the aforesaid Government Order of 30th July, 1976 and also urged upon the Government of India to repeal the obsolete Indo-Nepal Treaty,1950. A delegation consisting of eight leaders of Assam Gorkha Sammelon waited upon the former Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi on the 1st. February 1980 and submitted a memorandum urging upon the Government to abrogate or suitably amend the provisions of the Indo-Nepal Treaty. The political leaders of Nepal too are not happy with the existing system of free border crossing. No developing nation in the world, at this juncture, can afford to allow influx of extra population from other countries. They want some kind of mechanism which would check easy infiltration by foreigners, undesirable elements like criminals, terrorists and smugglers into each others territories. We are all aware of how Nepal has increasingly become a haven for all kinds of criminals and militants from India to hide and carry out subversive activities against India. It has also become convenient for the Pakistani terrorists and ISI agents to cross the border into India via Nepal.
The Nepalese Ministers for External Affairs have, on more than one occasion, requested the Government of India to take necessary steps to find out suitable alternative methods to replace the existing border crossing system. The former Prime Minister of Nepal, Mr Puspa Kamal Dahal, during his visit to India in November, 2008 had raised this issue before his counterpart Dr Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India who had agreed to form a committee to go into the matter for finding suitable remedial measures to solve this problem but nothing happened. We sincerely hope that this time during Narendra Modi’s regime the two Governments will soon take up this long standing issue and find lasting solution to this infiltration problem.
(The author is a retired civil servant)