ILP areas of Arunachal, Nagaland, Mizoram to be exempted from Citizenship Amendment Bill; draft legislation to come up in Lok Sabha on 9 Dec

The main objective of the ILP system is to prevent settlement of other Indian nationals in the three states in order to protect the indigenous population Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram, where Inner Line Permit regime is applicable, will be kept out of the purview of the proposed Citizenship Amendment Bill, which is expected to be introduced in the ongoing Winter Session of the Parliament on 9 December. The bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955, in order to grant Indian nationality to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who come to India due to religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan even if they don’t possess proper documents. Twelve non-BJP MPs have also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to exclude the northeastern states from the purview of the proposed Citizenship Amendment Bill, saying if it comes into effect the tribal population of the region will be vulnerable to displacement. The main objective of the ILP system is to prevent settlement of other Indian nationals in the three states in order to protect the indigenous population.