NPF urges Nagaland govt to maintain status quo on RIIN

The opposition Naga People's Front (NPF) on Wednesday urged the state government to maintain the status quo on the preparation of the Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN) till a consensus in this regard is drawn from all stakeholders.

The RIIN, a register of all the indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland, is required to prevent issuance of indigenous inhabitant certificates to ineligible persons, officials said.

The Nagaland government began the process of preparing the RIIN on July 10 and it was supposed to be completed within 60 days.

At its Central Executive Council meeting here, the NPF adopted a resolution that said the RIIN concerns the future of the Nagas as a whole and the status quo should be maintained before a consensus is drawn from all stakeholders, according to a party statement.

"Propounding a new theory (RIIN) at this juncture would only bring more divisions amongst the Nagas as well as the various indigenous communities" in the state, it said.

Rather, the NPF said, the government must focus on implementing the Inner Line Permit (ILP), an official document issued by the Centre that is required by non-Nagas to travel in Nagaland except in Dimapur.

The Nagaland government on July 27 had constituted a commission to frame the modalities of creating the RIIN, giving it three months to submit its report.

The panel was formed after the administration held meetings with tribal bodies, civil societies and non-Naga communities of the state on the preparation of the RIIN.

It was decided at the meetings that the policies and modalities of preparing the RIIN would be framed and made public before the actual enumeration begins.

According to a June 29 notification, the RIIN will help identify the citizens who settled in Nagaland prior to December 1, 1963, the day it became a full-fledged state.

The RIIN would provide protection to genuine citizens who are permanent settlers of Nagaland and non-Nagas will not be harassed during preparation of the list of indigenous citizens, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio had said earlier.

Only those whose names figure in the RIIN will be issued indigenous inhabitant certificates and all other certificates would become invalid after the final register is ready.

While most political parties and civil societies have welcomed the preparation of the RIIN, a section of them has expressed concerns, claiming the definition of "indigenous inhabitants" is not clear.

The NPF meeting also welcomed R N Ravi as the Governor of Nagaland expressing hope that his appointment will strengthen the ongoing peace process as he was the main driving force behind the Framework Agreement signed by the NSCN(IM) and the Centre on August 3, 2015.

Ravi, a former Intelligence Bureau officer and the Centre's interlocutor for Naga peace talks, was sworn in as the 20th governor of Nagaland on August 1.