GUWAHATI: The Neiphiu Rio-led People’s Democratic Alliance (PDA) in Nagaland has expressed concern about the indigenous people of the Northeast in the wake of the BJP-led central government’s intention to pass the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in Rajya Sabha.
The PDA comprises 18 NDPP, 12 BJP, 2 NPP MLAs and one JD (U) legislator.
“The State Cabinet met yesterday and took a decision to reject the Bill. In fact, the Cabinet had so far met three times this month and taken a stand against the contentious legislation,” PDA chairman, Chingwang Konyak, told reporters on the sidelines of the convention of Northeast parties here on Tuesday afternoon.
“Even as Nagaland is protected under Article 371 (A) of the Constitution and Inner Line Permit (ILP), our concern is for the indigenous people of the Northeast. Look at what happened to Tripura, which is no longer a tribal-majority state. We have seen what has happened in Assam, after Partition and post-1971,” Konyak said, hinting at the influx of migrants from Bangladesh over the decades.
On the growing opposition to CAB in the Northeast over the past few months, “Scrapping CAB is a genuine demand of Northeast states, which we support,” he said.
Asked whether the BJP MLAs in the alliance are on the same page, “This is a collective decision to reject the Bill and as BJP is part of the alliance, what we say is their view as well,” Konyak, who is also the president of National Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), said.
Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT)-Tipraha leader, Aghor Debbarma, told reporters that the passage of the Bill in Rajya Sabha would “open the corridor for 1.79crore illegal migrants to enter Tripura”.
“We have been demanding a separate Twipraland under the Article 2 and 3 of the Constitution to protect the indigenous people of our state. Why should Tripura carry the burden of so many outsiders?” Debbarma asked.