Guwahati, May 8: Alarmed by the apparent change in Nagaland?s demography, a youth organisation has served ?quit notices? on Bangladeshi migrants in the state.
Neighbouring Assam, for which illegal migration is an even bigger problem, has sounded an ?alert? along the inter-state border to prevent the fleeing migrants from entering its territory.
The anti-migrant campaign in Nagaland, which police say has been launched by the Kohima-based Lisami Youth Organisation, follows the Union Cabinet?s decision to repeal the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act, which is in force in Assam.
Sources said tension gripped the minority community of Nagaland after some shops in the state capital were forcibly closed down by members of the youth organisation on the premise that these belonged to illegal migrants from Bangladesh.
A madarsa at Niuland in Dimapur district was also reportedly closed down last week, but the government has neither confirmed nor denied it.
An inquiry has been instituted into the closure of shops.
Some minority organisations said they had voluntarily closed down their establishments as a ?preventive step?. They insisted that no businessman had fled Kohima.
A source said miscreants masquerading as office-bearers of the Lisami Youth Organisation may have issued the ?quit notices?.
The Lisami Youth Organisation allegedly asked shopkeepers of a particular community to close down their shops as part of its drive against illegal migrants. Over 25 shops, most of these in the High School and Teenpati areas of Kohima, immediately downed shutters.
The Naga Students? Federation (NSF) had recently asked the state government to initiate steps to detect and deport illegal migrants from the state. In a memorandum to chief minister Neiphiu Rio, it warned that the problem would assume gargantuan proportions if not tackled immediately.
The NSCN (K), too, recently resolved to launch a drive against illegal migrants, saying they were ?economically and culturally? exploiting the Naga people.
A prominent minority organisation expressed concern over the developments in a representation to the Kohima deputy commissioner.
A senior functionary of the organisation said minorities in the state would readily co-operate with the government in identifying illegal Bangladeshi migrants.
Home minister T.M. Lotha told The Telegraph that he had asked home commissioner Talitemjen Ao to look into the matter.
The home commissioner said the state government had evidence about the presence of Bangladeshi migrants in the state, but could not identify them because most of them had procured false domicile certificates. There are reportedly over three lakh Bangladeshi migrants in Nagaland, though minority organisations deny it.