THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 02 JULY 2019 (Imitation registry: on Nagaland NRC (The Hindu))

Imitation registry: on Nagaland NRC (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2: Polity
Prelims level : Nagaland NRC
Mains level : Citizenship status across Nagaland

Context

  • Nagaland is following on the footsteps of its western neighbour, Assam, in the task of setting up a Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN).
  • Nagaland claims to have watched the process unfold in Assam, followed it closely, and it will now complete the task of identifying and registering indigenous inhabitants in less than five months, by December 10, 2019.

Lesson from Assam

  • This is more or less the kind of time-line that was followed by Assam, which is yet to publish its final NRC a year after the process began. In two months from July 10, Nagaland hopes to have a list of indigenous inhabitants, after which it will be published and time given till October 10 to file claims and objections, before finalisation.
  • It sounds simple, and Nagaland is considerably less populated than Assam.
  • But the Assam experience shows that in the complex demographies of the Northeastern States, it may not turn out that way.
  • As many as 40 lakh people were left out of the NRC listing in Assam, which seemed aimed to filter out ‘illegal immigrants’. Indeed, in Nagaland, various local attempts have been made to determine non-locals, non-tribals and non-Nagas, and identify what some people refer to as the ‘Illegal Bangladeshi Immigrant’.
  • Two years ago, a town not farther than 15 km from Dimapur, the largest city and the commercial capital of the State, passed a resolution to place curbs on IBIs and devised ways to prevent them from integrating, living or trading in the town.
  • When such is the situation on the ground, in an already volatile region where the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act is routinely extended, it is best that Nagaland proceeds with caution in this enterprise.
  • The RIIN should not ultimately become a vehicle to make outsiders of insiders.

Suggested measures

  • The Assam experiment has no clear end-point. Bangladesh has repeatedly suggested that the process going on in Assam is “an internal matter” of India, implying that there is no deportation possibility here.
  • Other than deepening the existing fault-lines in its own State and rendering the situation even more volatile, it is unclear what the Nagaland government hopes to achieve through the exercise. What happens to the people who are in the end found to be on the wrong side of the Nagland list?
  • The right to appeal and a humane hearing should be in-built in this exercise.

Conclusion

Prelims Questions:

Q.1) With reference to the Fast radio bursts (FRBs), consider the following statements:
1. A team of international astronomers have determined for the first time the precise source of a single/ one-off fast radio bursts (FRBs).
2. It’s only the second fast radio burst ever to have been traced to a location.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
A. 1 only
B. 2 only
C. Both
D. None

Answer: C
Mains Questions:
Q.1)What lesson Nagaland should take note of the minefield that is Assam’s NRC process?

UPSC 2019
Civil Services EXAM
Civil Services Preliminary
Civil Services Mains
IAS PRE GS
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