The recent developments in the backdrop of the Government of India getting the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill passed in Parliament, which also saw the Centre simultaneously extending provisions of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873 to introduce Inner Line Permit mechanism to Manipur has provoked various organizations to raise the demand for ILP coverage to Assam too. The Meghalaya government meanwhile has got a resolution passed in the state legislative assembly recommending Inner Line Permit to that state too. While the Centre’s decision now totally covers four of the North-eastern states – Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur – there is every possibility now that the Centre would agree to extend the ILP provisions to Meghalaya too. With this, only Assam and Tripura are left out of the purview of the Inner Line Permit. The demand for introducing the ILP in Assam and Meghalaya dates back to the beginning of the Assam Movement of 1979-85, with the Asom Jatiyabadi Yuva-Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) raising the first demand immediately after its formation in 1978. In Meghalaya, various student bodies including the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) have been spearheading the movement for ILP from around the same time. The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) however is not known to have raised such a demand even during the Assam Movement. With the Government of India constituting an Expert Committee headed by retired Justice Biplab Kumar Sarma to examine various demands and possibilities to implement the Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, a large number of organizations have submitted the demand for if the Inner Line Permit in Assam as an effective measure to check illegal migrants. The Inner Line Permit not only restricts entry of people from outside the area of jurisdiction, but also practically prevents people from outside from acquiring land and other immovable property within the ILP-covered areas. Extending provisions of the Inner Line Permit to the whole of the Northeastern region covering all the seven – nay eight – states appears to be a viable idea and significant step towards protecting the indigenous communities of the region from being outnumbered by the growing number of illegal migrants. The Union Home Ministry, simultaneously with Parliament passing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, had announced extension of the ILP to Manipur, while the CAA would be exempted from seven districts of Assam, namely Karbi Anglong, West Karbi Anglong, Dima Hasao, Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri, which are already covered under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. That leaves the districts of Assam not covered by the Sixth Schedule exposed to the hordes of illegal migrants. And with these districts barring the three Barak Valley districts being the major area inhabited by those people whose mother tongue is largely Assamese, the latter still remain vulnerable to the ‘silent invasion’ caused by large number of illegal migrants, irrespective of they are Hindus or Muslims. The Centre should immediately announce extending the ILP provisions to the entire Northeastern region, including Sikkim. The Union Home Minister should probably be told to read the Supreme Court judgment of July 12, 2005 passed in connection with Sarbananda Sonowal challenging the notorious IM(DT) Act, in order to understand the gravity of the situation and the threat that illegal Bangladeshi migrants pose to the security and territorial integrity of the country’s Northeastern frontier.