North East Students’ Organization (NESO) demands withdrawal of AFSPA from entire NE

KOHIMA/SHILLONG: The North East Students’ Organization (NESO), an apex body of eight student bodies, has demanded the complete withdrawal of AFSPA and execution of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) in the entire region for the safeguard and welfare of the indigenous people.

NESO Chairman Samuel B. Jywra said on Thursday that the NESO has been agitating in support of its demand for the complete removal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958 — known as AFSPA — and implementation of the ILP in all the northeastern states.

While talking to the media, he said that the people of the northeastern states region have faced a “lot of atrocities” because of AFSPA, with the latest being the killing of 13 daily wager earners in a case of “mistaken identity” at Oting in Nagaland’s Mon district in December 2021.

In two phases in 2022 and 2023, the Union Home Ministry has reduced disturbed areas under AFSPA in Nagaland, Assam, and Manipur, but in certain areas the act remains effective.

The AFSPA, which is sometimes referred to by certain political parties and NGOs as “draconian law”, allows the Army and other central paramilitary forces to conduct raids and operations and arrest anyone anywhere without prior notice or an arrest warrant.

It was lifted from Tripura in 2015, Meghalaya in 2018, and Mizoram in the 1980s. The NESO chairman said that for the overall safeguard and welfare of the indigenous people of the region, ILP must be executed in all the northeastern states.

The ILP had been in force in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Mizoram. On December 11, 2019, it was promulgated in Manipur to allow an Indian citizen into the ILP-enforced areas for a stipulated period with the written permission of the state and competent authority.

The main aim of the ILP system is to check the settlement of other Indian nationals in these states to protect the native population.

Protection is also extended to the indigenous people with regard to land, jobs, and other facilities.

The ILP, under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation of 1873, is an official travel document that allows an Indian citizen to visit the states and areas where the ILP is enforced for a limited period and for a specific purpose.

Jywra also demanded that the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) not be conducted in the northeastern states, as students in the region have not been getting higher education skills, facilities, and support compared to other parts of the country in many aspects. NESO advisor Samujjal Bhattacharya demanded that illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in the region be identified and deported at the earliest. “NESO strongly opposed the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA),” he said. (IANS)