Noisy scenes in Nagaland Assembly as NPF seeks passage of anti-CAA resolution

Nagaland Assembly on Saturday witnessed noisy scenes, as opposition NPF protested against newly amended Citizenship Act, and insisted that an anti-CAA resolution should be passed in House, taking a cue from states such as Kerala and Bengal. Rejecting demand of Naga People's Front (NPF), Deputy Chief Minister Y Patton iterated that law would not affect Nagas, as states with Inner Line Permit (ILP) regime have been exempted from its purview.

Opposition Leer T R Zeliang, along with NPF MLAs Chotisuh Sazo and Chumben Murry, during a discussion on matters of public importance, however, reasoned that ILP would not impede influx of illegal immigrants. Zeliang also said that Assam, gateway to norast, h not been entirely exempted from purview of law, making Nagaland, with its porous borders, susceptible to illegal infiltration.

"Let us study case and find out if Centre is truly planning to accord citizenship to persecuted. If that is case, why only three countries -- Banglesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan -- have been included in law? Why not people from Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan and Buddhists from Tibet?

"Does this Act truly stand for what central government claims, or is it a law to garner votes," he said.

senior NPF leer also stated that immigrants in Assam, once granted citizenship, could find ir way to or states in norast.

"Who can stop people in Assam, granted citizenship by powers vested in Citizenship (Amendment) Act, from making ir way into our state?" Zeliang said.

Patton contended that Nagas were fully protected and an anti-CAA resolution was unnecessary. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in December, h given assurances that law would not have any impact on people of state, he said, ding that "state appreciated Centre's move".