In defence of the Inner Line Permit system in Mizoram

The Shillong Times, 26 June 2008 (http://www.theshillongtimes.com/editorial.html)

By: Paritosh Chakma

This article is in defence of the Inner Line Permit regulations in Mizoram in the wake of the recent Gauhati High Court judgement that Mizoram government should not arrest or deport any body for not having valid inner line permit (ILP). I was aghast to hear the judgement. What are the police expected to do if not arrest an "illegal outsider"? The Court's order has definitely provided impunity to all those staying on in the state without the valid papers. Illegal outsiders can pose serious threats to the peace and security of the state.

The government of Mizoram has announced that it would challenge the High Court order "up to the Supreme Court".

If there is a law in place, all must abide by it and defaulters must be punished. The legal formalities under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act of 1873 require any Indian Citizen who is not a resident of Mizoram to have an Inner Line Pass to enter the state. Two other North Eastern states - Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh also have the ILP system.

Foreigners touring North East India are required to obtain Restricted Area Permit from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Most mainland Indians and non-tribals of the N-E region oppose the ILP system on the ground that restrictions violate the fundamental rights of the citizens of India including the right to free movement throughout the country and to take up employment. But everyone must understand that the Inner Line Permit is a "protective discrimination" for the indigenous populations of the states of Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, introduced by the British to protect the indigenous populations from the onslaught of "the outsiders" and has been retained in Independent India.

The ILP's aim is not to harass or prevent entry of non-Mizo Indian nationals per se but to secure the future of the natives by protecting the sanctity of their socio-cultural rights, preventing demographic upheaval leading to invasion of their political bastion by the "outsiders" which has been the case with Tripura. Due to the large-scale influx from Bangladesh, the indigenous peoples of Tripura have been reduced to minority. The defeat of another North Eastern state - Assam - in identifying and deporting millions of illegal Bangladeshis is also known to all of us.

The guidelines for enforcement of the Inner Line Regulation in Mizoram notified on 8.9.2006 clearly state that the visitors must not be harassed at the check gates: "Therefore, the method of checking should be as simple as possible, yet effective so that no one who is required to possess an Inner Line Pass, enters without a pass".

Protecting the natives from influx and demographic invasion by "outsiders" was one of the top priorities in the minds of the Mizo leaders when they demanded statehood. Thus, the Mizoram Accord of 1986 between the Mizo National Front and the government of India provides that "The Inner Line Regulation, now in force in Mizoram, will not be amended or repealed without consulting the State Government." It would have been far better had MNF supremo Mr Laldenga stressed for insertion of the word "consent" in place of "consulting", for "consultation" is not always equal to obtaining "consent" of a party. "Consent" requires the approval of the concerned party who has the right to say "no".

Issuing of ILPs is "subject to availability of a sponsor who is a bonafide indigenous resident (of Mizoram)" and their renewal or extension is allowed "subject to the good conduct of the ILP holder that he/she is not involved in any criminal activity". Hence, it is clear that the system seeks to be an effective mechanism to check illegal infiltration of "outsiders" and their illegal activities in Mizoram.

The ILP's aim is not to harass or prevent entry of non-Mizo Indian nationals per se but to secure the future of the natives by protecting the sanctity of their socio-cultural rights, preventing demographic upheaval leading to invasion of their political bastion by the "outsiders" which has been the case with Tripura. Due to the large-scale influx from Bangladesh, the indigenous peoples of Tripura have been reduced to minority. The defeat of another North Eastern state - Assam - in identifying and deporting millions of illegal Bangladeshis is also known to all of us.

Land is the most important source of livelihood and critical for our survival. Yet, the tribals have been losing their lands to the non-tribals across the country despite presence of various legal safeguards. The Constitution of India under the 5th Schedule protects the land rights of the tribals in mainland India. In the North East India, the 6th Schedule of the Constitution authorizes the Autonomous District Councils to make appropriate laws against land alienation. In addition, at the state level, there are numerous laws prohibiting transfer of lands from indigenous/ tribal peoples to "non-tribals". But the non-tribals have been successful in taking control of the lands belonging to the tribals by adopting various tricks including fraudulent means, marrying tribal women, harassment through police and goons, in addition to purchasing although transfer of tribal lands to non-tribals is illegal.

According to the 2007-2008 Annual Report of the Ministry of Rural Development, a total of 506,307 cases of tribal land alienation have been registered (involving 902,417 acres of land) in India so far. The statistics provided in the report further proves that the tribals have been losing their legal battles in the Courts to recover their lands. Out of the total of 430,450 cases (involving 851,372 acres of land) disposed of by the Courts in the country, 46.1% (198,674 cases involving 410,587 acres of land) were decided against the tribals which means the tribal victims could not get back their lands. Lack of proper legal documents proving ownership of the land and inability to hire good lawyers to fight the cases in Court often acted against the tribals while seeking to restore the alienated land.

There has been no report of any alienation of tribal lands in Mizoram and the state government too has not released any such data. The Inner Line Permit regulation has been instrumental in averting such illegal activities by non-locals. On 1 April 2008, Mizoram Home Minister Mr Tawnluia informed the State Assembly that 22 Bangladeshis who entered the state illegally were arrested and deported to Bangladesh during 2007-2008.

In order to protect the interests of the indigenous peoples of Mizoram, it is extremely necessary that the Inner Line Permit system is strictly enforced. But ILP is not enforced strictly. For example, every non-Mizo resident passenger is asked to produce ILP during entry at the check gate at Vairangte, but I have not seen the law enforcement personnel checking the validity of the ILP of the persons during exit. If police do not check the ILP validity during exit, it means any ILP holder can overstay in the state without the fear of being caught and prosecuted for the crime. At the same time, it is equally important that no bonafide citizen of India, irrespective of caste, creed, sex, colour or religion, or any foreigner having entered the state for valid purposes with valid papers should be harassed in any way. In order to detect illegal outsiders, the police have been entrusted with the duty to conduct "surprise checks" in every district at least once in a month. However, due to the failure of the police to do so, there have been reports of raids conducted by non-state actors to identify the alleged illegal outsiders. Such acts, though done while keeping in mind the interests of the state, are absolutely illegal and uncalled for. This will further create a deep sense of fear among the non-locals including tourists which is not in the wholesome interest of the state.

It is everyone's duty to uphold the human rights of ALL while enforcing the laws of the land.