The Inner Line Regulation Commission (ILRC) of the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) has strongly reacted to the Rising People’s Party’s (RPP) statement published on October 1 under the headline “RPP dismayed at the omission of non-Naga indigenous tribes.”
In a rejoinder issued Tuesday, the NSF-ILRC questioned the RPP on its reference to “non-Naga indigenous tribes” in Nagaland, asking, “Who are the non-Naga indigenous tribes in Nagaland?”
“As far as the NSF is concerned, Nagas are the only indigenous people of Nagaland and other Naga-inhabited areas,” the federation stated. While acknowledging that other tribes and communities have settled across Naga areas, it asserted that calling migrants indigenous “undermines the very sanctity of the peoples who have existed in those lands since time immemorial.”
The NSF argued that the United Nations has defined the term “indigenous” precisely to safeguard the identity of such peoples, and reiterated that “the indigeneity of the Nagas to their land cannot be eroded by any factor whatsoever.”
Backing the state government’s decision on the matter, the ILRC said the RPP’s criticism—describing it as a move that “reflected poorly on the policymakers of the state”—was “devoid of logic” and instead reflected “the utter ignorance of the RPP.”
At the same time, the NSF clarified that it recognises the existence of non-Nagas who settled in Nagaland before December 1, 1963, and urged the state government to grant them “suitable status” for legal and official recognition.
It further appealed to individuals, tribes, or communities who came before statehood not to be swayed by “unfounded apprehensions” but to register their claims so that “their original status is not diluted by newcomers or self-interested individuals.”