Nagaland: RPP condemns NSF committee’s stand on non-Naga indigenous tribes

Dimapur: The Rising People’s Party (RPP) condemned the ‘jingoistic stand’ of the inner line regulation commission (ILRC) of the Naga Students Federation (NSF) that the Nagas are the only indigenous people of Nagaland.

In a statement on Thursday, the RPP pointed out that the Nagaland government has officially justified its stand that the Kachari, Kuki, Garo, and Mikir tribes are indeed indigenous to Nagaland and are therefore entitled to obtain ST certificates and indigenous inhabitant certificates.

The party added that the government had also clarified that 24 posts of police constables in the ongoing police constable recruitment in the Nagaland police are reserved for these non-Naga indigenous tribes of Nagaland.

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Following the government’s clarification, the RPP questioned the ILRC of the NSF to clarify its previous statement that “Nagas are the only indigenous people of Nagaland”.

“The ILRC of NSF guided by sheer arrogance had the audacity to question the RPP on the issue of indigeneity of these four non-Naga tribes and even went to the extent of calling these tribes migrants,” the statement said.

The RPP urged the NSF to nullify the statement created by the ILRC, which is a mere committee formed by the NSF to check the implementation of ILP in the state.

“The utterly incoherent stand of the ILRC has not only created confusion but has portrayed the Nagas in bad light for which the NSF proper must and should clarify,” the party stated.

The statement further said trying to thrash the RPP on a non-issue in the print media is nothing but a publicity-seeking exercise.