There is a great deal of discomfort in Northeast India on the issue of illegal influx of immigrants. While in Assam there is an engaging debate on the definition of Assamese, in neighbouring Meghalaya the issue of dubious voters has seen the influential Khasi student organisation stopping the enrollment drive for the electoral rolls.
In Assam, following the Supreme Court’s directive, the work of updating National Register of Citizens (NRC) is underway. In 2010, pilot project of updating the NRC in Barpeta and Chaygaon revenue circles was called off abruptly after four persons were killed and over several others injured in violent protest in Barpeta town.
In Manipur, the ruling Congress government and NGOs are at loggerheads over the tenant bill issue. NGOs and the opposition Manipur People’s Party (MPP) is demanding implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system in Manipur.
NGOs have rejected the Manipur Regulation of Visitors, Tenants and Migrant Workers (MRVT & MW) Bill 2015, which was passed by the state assembly recently. MPP president N Sovakiran said, “We demand immediate withdrawal of the MRVT & MW Bill, as it does not address the issues of the indigenous people in the backdrop of the large-scale influx of migrants into the state.”
MPP demanded implementation of a regulation to control the inflow of illegal migrants as is done in other states like Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram.