Northeast students' bodies press for electoral roll revision, detection of 'illegal migrants'

Guwahati: Leaders and members of at least eight influential students' bodies under the banner North East Students' Organisations (NESO) on Monday hit the streets demanding immediate steps for detection and deportation of "illegal migrants" by carrying out an extensive revision of the electoral rolls and updating the NRC across the Northeast. 

The students' bodies staged demonstrations at several places in Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh stating that influx from neighbouring Bangladesh resulted in serious demographic change in the region.

"Continued influx of refugees and undocumented migrants from different countries has created a sense of insecurity and apprehension among the indigenous people that their culture, tradition, political identity, their control over land and existence itself, will be swallowed up by the outsiders. The unguarded porous border has been used by fundamentalist groups to infiltrate into the region thereby further threatening the existence of the indigenous people," the NESO said in a memorandum addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

They demanded that a special commission be set up for an extensive revision of the electoral rolls aimed at detection and deletion of names of foreigners within a stipulated time.

The demand comes at a time the Opposition parties have been accusing the Narendra Modi government of harassing the marginalised voters through Special Roll Revision in Bihar. 

The students' bodies demanded that in order to check influx of illegal migrants, the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system should be introduced in Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura. Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur already have ILP under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulations, 1873, which needs outsiders to take a travel permit.

The protesters also demanded that the entire Northeast be exempted from the purview of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 that seeks to offer Indian citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan till 2014.

"Detection of foreigners in Assam must be done, irrespective of religion, as per the Assam Accord of 1985 that decided March 24, 1971 as the cut-off date. But Narendra Modi government is violating the cut-off date of the Assam Accord by offering citizenship to non-Muslims till 2014. This is unacceptable," president of All Assam Students' Union (AASU), Utpal Sarma told reporters. They also slammed the Centre for failing to fully implement the Assam Accord even after 40 years of its signing.  

Those who staged the protest represent AASU, Khasi Students' Union, Garo Students' Union (Meghalaya), Naga Students' Federation (Nagaland), Mizo Zirlai Pawl (Mizoram), Twipra Students' Federation (Tripura), All Manipur Students' Union and All Arunachal Pradesh Students' Union.