Assam: AJYCP to organize protest for introduction of ILP in state

GUWAHATI | August 18, 2018:

State youth organisation, Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad will be organising a statewide protest on Monday to push for the introduction of inner-line permit in the state.

It said without ILP, the National Register of Citizens (NRC) can only partially safeguard the indigenous people.

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The 1951 NRC is being updated in Assam to solve the problem of illegal immigrants. Its complete draft, published on July 30, did not have the names of 40 lakh people out of 3.29 crore applicants. The date of publication of the final NRC is yet to be declared.

The AJYCP, which apprehends a threat to the indigenous people of Assam not only from illegal immigrants but also from people who come from other states and settle here, has been demanding introduction of ILP since its formation in 1978.

The organisation had planned a statewide protest on Friday, demanding ILP. It was deferred because of the demise of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

"The NRC is a partial solution to the problems of the indigenous people of Assam. Through it we will be able to identify who is a foreigner but to protect the political and land rights of the indigenous people, we need ILP," said Palash Changmai, general secretary of the AJYCP.

"Census data reveals that the percentage of indigenous people in Assam has come down from 60 per cent in 1971 to 48 per cent in 2011 while the percentage of Bengali and Hindi-speaking people has increased significantly. For example, the percentage of Bengali-speaking people increased to 33 per cent in 2011 from 19 per cent in 1971," Changmai said.

"People from other parts of the country have been coming to Assam, buying land and getting political rights. The opposite is not happening. Around one lakh people from Assam are working in other states, most of them as cheap labour," he said.

The AJYCP will also organise seminars in all the district headquarters on August 25 on the necessity of ILP to spread awareness and garner support for their demand.

Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland are the three Northeastern state to have implemented ILP. The demand for the introduction of ILP has been growing in other states.

Changmai said the indigenous communities in the other hill states of the region enjoy some kind of protection over their land and political rights as they comprise the majority of the population.

For the constitutional safeguard which is being demanded by the  All Assam Students' Union, ILP could be an answer said Changmai.

"The AASU has been demanding constitutional safeguards for the indigenous people of the state. But the term remains undefined. In our view, the ILP is a part of the solution for constitutional safeguard," he added.

Source: The Telegraph

Featured image: Representation (DNA India)