After obtaining the approval of Lok Sabha on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019, the government on Wednesday has extended the provisions of Inner Line Permit (ILP) to Manipur and some other parts of the northeast.

According to a Gazatte notification by the Home Ministry dated December 11, “In the Third Schedule to the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950, for the directions relating to the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873, the following shall be substituted, namely: “Preamble. – In the opening paragraph, for “districts of Kamrup, Darrang, Nowgong, Sibsagar, Lakhimpur, Naga Hills, Cachar” substitute “States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and area of districts of State of Nagaland as notified from time to time.”

Advertisement

As per the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019, which was passed in the Lok Sabha, and is being discussed in Rajya Sabha, the areas under Inner Line Permit (ILP) will be exempted for the Bill.

According to the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulations of 1873 an area covered under ILP makes it mandatory for the non-citizens of the area to travel there with an Inner Line Permit which is issued by the Government of India for a certain time period.

It is seen as an effort to conserve the ethnic-social demographics of certain societies.

It is to be noted that CAB will not be applicable for those areas covered under ILP, notified under Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulations, 1873, along with tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura included in the Sixth Scheduled of the Constitution.

Assam and other states of northeastern region have witnessed agitations after CAB getting clearance in Lok Sabha.

In a protest in Tripura over the Bill, around 40 people were injured in clashes at three different places on Tuesday during the 11-hour bandh. The BJP in Tripura suspended internet services for 48 hours to prevent rumors.

Responding to the protest, Chief Minister of Tripura Biplab Kumar Deb said that the protestors did not know why they are observing a bandh when the state’s tribal areas have been kept outside the purview of the CAB.

CAB was tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday by Home Minister Amit Shad who said, “There has been an almost 20 per cent decline each in the population of religious minorities in both Pakistan and present-day Bangladesh. Either they were killed or they fled to India for shelter.

In the 245-member Rajya Sabha, the halfway mark is currently 121 as five seats are vacant bringing down the strength of the House to 240.

The Bill, which is an amendment to the Citizenship Act, 1955 was passed by the Lok Sabha a little after midnight on Tuesday with 311-80 votes.

Variuos organisations in the northeast had been raising voice against the CAB citing it as a threat to their ethnicity.