Will Indigenous People of NE be Replaced by Illegal Immigrants from Foreign Countries? - Former Nagaland Speaker Z Lohe

Dimapur, September 21, 2019:

Former Speaker of Nagaland, Z Lohe on Saturday questioned whether the indigenous people of Northeast India will be replaced by illegal immigrants from foreign countries.

He also questioned if the indigenous people will be made ‘obsolete’ after the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.

The questions were raised by the former speaker at the one-day symposium on Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 and its impact on Northeast that was held at Dimapur Government College in Nagaland on Saturday.

Assuming the intentions of the GOI on whether people of Northeast are a liability, he asked if the central government was just tired of wearing the ‘uniform of unity in diversity’.

Z Lohe posed these questions during a programme held on Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 and its impact on Northeast at Dimapur Government College in Nagaland on Saturday.

Also Read: CAB to Ensure all Genuine Bengalis Excluded from NRC Get Citizenship: Ram Madhav

Claiming that ‘Unity in Diversity’ is the soul of secularism in the country, Lohe added, “the constitution gives protection to the religious majority and the minority of the nation. This Citizenship is against the very spirit of secularism.”

The former speaker appealed to all the northeastern states to come together in order to oppose the Bill. "The voices of a single state will vanish in the midst of big country and we have very limited MPs. Unless our MPs come together despite political difference and become one voice, the impact cannot be made", he added.

Further, Lohe mentioned that whenever the politicians of Nagaland speak against the CAB, they speak as if Nagaland is insulated.

“To deport and identify illegal immigrants from Nagaland is very easy as the state is well equipped with the documents by which a foreigner can be expelled. But while CAB is enacted, migrants living in the country for 6 years will be declared Indians. Their numbers are in lakhs and thousands. These enrolled citizens from Assam and other NE states will migrate to Kohima and Dimapur,” Lohe added.

“My concern is what are the rules which will be amended by the Nagaland government to prevent such instances of providing citizenship? Our Article 371 (A) against the CAB,” he added further.

Support Inside Northeast, an independent media platform that focuses on Citizen-centric stories from Northeast India that are surprising, inspiring, cinematic and emotionally relevant.

Readers like you make Inside Northeast’s work possible.

To support our brand of fearless investigative journalism, support us HERE.

Download:

The Inside Northeast app HERE for News, Views, and Reviews from Northeast India.

Do keep following us for news on-the-go. We deliver the Northeast