AEGAEUM JOURNAL ISSN NO: 0776-3808

“Concept and Movement for Implementation of Inner Line Permit System (ILPS) in .”

Dr. Ng. Ngalengnam Assistant Professor & H.O.D, Political Science & Human Rights, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Regional Campus Manipur (IGNTU-RCM). # 8794394033/ 9863309484 Email: [email protected]

INTRODUCTION: The so called Inner Line Regulation is a Regulation which had been passed by the British in order to maintain certain policy while dealing with the administration in India. As such the ‘Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation of 1873’ popularly known as the Inner Line Regulation (ILR), was the first law promulgated in by the British government for peaceful and good governance of certain districts of Eastern Frontier of Bengal. Such laws are called Regulations to distinguish them from the Acts or Laws passed after discussion in the Legislature 1. ILR was an externalization of the policy of non-interference by the colonial rulers in areas outside the settled and administered districts of Assam. It was purely an administrative measure and not a frontier policy against a foreign people. The policy was directed towards pacification and conciliation of the tribal people with the object to reach the international frontier with Tibet and China. It was never enforced to curb the movement of the hill men across the Line 2. Meaning of ILP: The ILP is a permit system established under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act 1873 under this regulation, no citizen from any other parts of India (outsiders) are permitted to enter into the boundary of a state without a valid pass issued by a competent authority. These passes were usually issued by the State Resident Commissioners/Deputy Commissioners/ any other Officer authorized by the State Government. The main objective of the ILP system is to provide a special protection to the indigenous people of the state where ILP is enforced.

If any person enters into so prohibited line without a pass shall be liable to conviction before a magistrate (to imprisonment of either description which may extend to one year, to fine not exceeding Rs 1000/- or to both). The pass to be issued by the competent authority would require payment of duties fees as the state government may deem proper. This provision was made by the British Government under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act, 1873. As per this regulation no outsider can take away any rubber, wax, ivory or other forest product or any

Volume 8, Issue 7, 2020 http://aegaeum.com/ Page No: 1630 AEGAEUM JOURNAL ISSN NO: 0776-3808

book, diary, manuscript, map, picture, photograph, film, article of religious or scientific interest outside this inner line permit areas.

Brief Historical Background of Inner Line Regulation (ILR):

As stated above, the Inner Line Regulation is a Regulation of the British government adopted in India. in order to maintain certain policy while dealing with the administration in India. The Regulation was passed in 1873’ and promulgated in Assam. All the areas of the present North East India felt under Assam. The British government introduced this regulation for peaceful of certain districts of Eastern Frontier of Bengal and Assam. The fact was that theses area was considered to be very backward. Therefore, in the opinion of the British government if these areas are not protected by a strict rule and regulation the indigenous people of the areas would be exploited by the outsiders and have a possibilities to distort their own history, culture and custom etc.

Reasons and Objectives for Promulgation Of Inner Line Permit System: The main objectives and reasons for promulgation of Inner Line Permit System in India are; with the gradual extension of the British administration in the Northeastern region, the tea gardens had been opened in the hills. The beginning of competition in connection with the traffic in rubber, wood, wax, ivory, cotton and other jungle products, and in order to avoid frequent clashes which resulted from the unrestricted intercourse between the British subjects in Assam and the hill tribes living across the British frontier, the Government felt it necessary to prohibit British subjects living in the plains from going beyond a certain line, laid down the purpose without a pass or license.

a). To provide a special protection to the indigenous people of the state where ILP is enforced. b). ILP certificate can be used only for travel and not for permanent residency in the area where ILP is enforced. c). Outsiders cannot buy property such as land and buildingin the state. d). Inter-caste marriages are not possible as residences of outsiders are not permitted. e). There is no competition among the backward tribes and inflowing foreigners. However, such provisions are not valid for central government employees, security personal. f).To regulate in Indian Rubber between the hills and British traders; g).To control extension of tea plantation into the hill areas; and h).To regulate the transfer of land in these areas etc.

Beginning of The Inner Line Permit System (ILR): The inner line regulations, commonly referred to as The Inner Line Permit System (ILP), first come into existed in Manipur with legal recognition from the Bengal the Eastern Frontier Regulations (BEFR) on the 1st November, 1873. The regulation implemented for the first time to the districts of Kamrup, Darrang, Nowgong (Naogaon), Sibsagar, Lakhimpur, Garo Hills, Khasi And Jaintia Hills, Naga Hills, Cachar and Chittagong Hills3. The regulation further

Volume 8, Issue 7, 2020 http://aegaeum.com/ Page No: 1631 AEGAEUM JOURNAL ISSN NO: 0776-3808

extended to the Goalpara district, and further extended to Mokokchung subdivision of the then Naga hills now the state of . Later it took further extension to sadiya frontier tract, the balipara frontier tract, the lakhimpur frontier tract, now Assam and the then NEFA now Arunachal Prdesh. Obviously the objectives of this regulation were to restrict the entry of persons who were non-native to the areas covered under it. This regulation empowered the then Lt. Governor to prescribe the area to be called ‘the inner line’. in all those notified districts no British subjects of certain classes or foreign residents could pass without a license. Rules were laid down regarding for issue of pass and trade and commerce in the identified inner line areas. The Inner Line Permit system had been implemented in the states of , Nagaland and by the British government in India in order to safeguard the unique identity of the indigenous people of these states. The ILP system is enforcing in these three northeastern states till date. the Inner Line Permit system has never been implemented in Manipur since Manipur was a princely state. Manipur had already been created its own system of permits/passports to regulate the coming outsiders into its territory before independence. In spite of the fact, that regulation was abolished on 18th November 1950 in the event of its merger into the union of India. Origin of Demand/Movement for Implementation of Inner Line Permit System In Manipur:

The origin of demand movement for implementation of Inner Line Permit System in Manipur can be traced back to the time when the All Manipur Students’ Union (AMSU) and the All Manipur Students’ Co-ordinating Committee (AMSCOC), jointly started the Anti-foreigners movement in February, 1980 with the demand to detect and deport foreigners from Manipur1. During the course of the agitation two students namely, Potsangbam Premananda and Huidrom Lokendro succumbed to bullet injuries on 17 April, 1980. As a result of the killing in that movement, the High School Leaving Certificate examination of the year had been boycotted. The movement attained its zenith and the whole state administration had been affected to a great extent in course of the movement.

With the effort from both the agitators and the , both the parties came to a negotiation in order to solve the issue of ILP as well as foreigners issue in two sittings with a draft agreement prepared by AMSU and AMSCOC. The draft agreement was signed on 22nd July and 5th August 1980. The agreement content of 16 points. Some of the points of the 16 points agreement are as given below; definition of Foreigner under the Indian Constitution and the Law; Mode of identification of foreigners with electoral rolls, census figure of 1951, the National Registrar of Citizens’ 1951 and cut off year for identification of foreigner from 26th January, 1950 i.e the date on which the Indian Constitution was enforced, Expulsion of unlawful settlers from K.K. Reserve areas, protected areas, khas lands and other reserve areas, sending back of foreigners entering into Manipur with citizenship certificate from West Bengal, Tripura and any other states and preventing this infiltration into Manipur under specially enacted legislation, strengthening check-posts at Imphal-Dimapur Road, Jiribam, Moreh, Tipaimukh,

Volume 8, Issue 7, 2020 http://aegaeum.com/ Page No: 1632 AEGAEUM JOURNAL ISSN NO: 0776-3808

Imphal Airport, restricting of the of any types of entry of foreigners as well as outsiders. To requesting the for deputation of an officer at Dimapur to check the Manipur bound passengers, etc3 The agreements was signed by both the parties. From the Government side, the agreement was signed by the Chief Minister and his council of Minister for PHED & Sports and from the students’ side, by the presidents of both AMSU and AMSCOC signed the agreement.

Though they signed the said agreement, the process of detection as well as deportation of foreigners was kept in abeyance in Manipur for a long period till the early part of 1994. As a result the second phase of agitation against the foreigners started in middle part of 1994. The second agreement was also signed on 9th November, 1994 between the president of AMSU and the State Chief Secretary to Government of Manipur with the concurrence of the Home Ministry, Government of India. The terms of agreement of the second phase were based on the terms of reference of the first phase of agreement signed in 1980. According to Clause I of the agreement signed on the 9th November, 1994 between the two parties, the AMSU, AMSCOC and the Government of Manipur was based on the agreement on 22nd July and 9th August 1980.the agreement was entitled as “the agreement between AMSU AND AMSCOC and government of Manipur on identification and deportation of foreigners. Both sides agreed to follow the agreement in letter and spirit to so as to materialize on the basis of the provisions of Foreigners’ Act 1946 and other relevant laws”.

To facilitate identification/detection of foreign nationals and also deletion of their names from the electoral rolls and subsequent deportation under various Acts and Rules, a committee of five members under the guidance of Chief Secretary to the Government of Manipur was also constituted. The said agreement provides to deport the detected foreigners through the Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of police of the concerned districts for deportation according to laws.

Recent Movement on Inner Line Permit System on (ILPS):

Implementation of Inner Line Permit System (ILPS) being a long dream of the people of Manipur in order to protect the indigenous people of the state, there is an intention of the people to struggle for the same untill and unless it achieved in Manipur. People of Manipur under the spearheading of leading non-governmental organizations made aware of the issue even to the children and the school level students. Thus, the Demand for implementation of Inner Line Prmit System in Manipur had been moving as a mass based movement which includes the student community, civil society organizations, and Womenfolk mostly the torch bearers (local name Meira Paibis). The Meira Paibis took out torch rallies at different localities of Imphal valley and greater Imphal areas demanding for the enforcement of Inner Line Permit System in Manipur (ILP) in the state in order to protect the indigenous people of the state. “Pressing for the demand, 18hours General Strike was called by the JCILPS which severly affected normal life in

Volume 8, Issue 7, 2020 http://aegaeum.com/ Page No: 1633 AEGAEUM JOURNAL ISSN NO: 0776-3808

Manipur”4. In pursuit of demand for the enforcement of ILP, at least six students were injured as police fired tear gas and mock bombs. Taking serious note of the police action, the convener of the JCILPS- Students Wing demanded action against the police personnel involved in the brutal crackdown against the students. “Meanwhile, womenfolk also staged sit-in-protests at different localities for the implementation of ILP in the state”. 5

In view of the mass struggle for enforcement of ILPS in the state, an all Political Party meeting was held o 6th August, 2014 at the Chief Minister’s Conference hall. “A committee consisting of thirteen (13) member headed by the Deputy Chief Minister has been constituted to look into the popular demand.”6 Endorsing the demand for implementation of Inner Line Permit system in the state to check the influx of outsiders into Manipur, the residents of Matai village has banned the entry of non-locals without valid identification documents in and around the Matai village in Imphal East district”7. A Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (JCILP) has been formed, The Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (JCILP) made another appealed again to all landlords not to allow entry and provide shelter to such outsiders/non-locals without proper ID documents The committee declared that Non-locals without identity proof would be either handed over to the police or made to return to their native places. As such human-chain protest was staged at various places in the months of September and October, 2014. Demanding implementation of Inner Line Permit system in the state, various clubs and organizations staged a sit-in-protests and conducted public meetings in different parts of the state. During which various resolutions were also adopted. The meeting adopted several resolutions such as; total prohibition on entry of non-locals without proper identification, identification of the non local etc.

In view of the worsening situation the state government established three relief camps in Imphal as one in Imphal East, one in Imphal West and the other one was in Bishnupur Districts, due to the curfew being imposed on the non-locals by the student’s wing of the JCILPS in Sept. 2014. According to the report, the non-locals scattered at different places were brought to the camp by the concerned police stations. 123 migrant workers including women and children were lodged at Dharmasala for Imphal West, 76 people at DIC Complex, Porompat for Imphal East and 73 people in Mini-secretariat for Bishnupur district”8 Meanwhile, 6 women leaders and 5 members of students’ wing of JCILPS were arrested by the police and remanded to police custody till September 16 from different places in Imphal area”9. In continuation of the movement, a meeting of the representatives of JCILPS and the political parties committee formed by the government held. The state government assured the JCILPS that, a flying squad would be set up wherein a police officer will be designated to check illegal influx of migrants and also to take steps to register outside labourers at State Labour Commission”10 The movement for implementation of Inner Line Permit system in Manipur has been a continuous process for Manipur. The strict implementation of the Inner Line Permit system in Manipur is reflected during the Covid-19 pandemic time in order to prevent spreading of Covid-19 in the state.

Volume 8, Issue 7, 2020 http://aegaeum.com/ Page No: 1634 AEGAEUM JOURNAL ISSN NO: 0776-3808

CONCLUSION: To conclude our discussion, it is important to note that, Manipur though they were living as a princely state before the coming of the British government in India later in Manipur the living condition of the people of Manipur were lacking far behind if we compare to other parts of India. Manipur had also experienced the supressive hands of Ava government. After the independence of India, Manipur tried her best to stand up herself as an independence country. Manipur created its own constitution known as The Manipur State Constitution 1947. Despite all those efforts, Manipur happen to merged into the union of India formerly in 1950. In short, due to frequent failures or suppression to the people of Manipur from others forces Manipur want to have such a secured rule like the Inner Line Permit system in order to protect the indigenous people.

FOOT NOTES:

1. Sir Edward Gait, ‘A History of Assam’, p. 336. 2. Proceedings of Northeast Indian History Association (NEIHA), 6th Session, Agartala, 1985, p.227-228 3. Proceedings of NEIHA, 8th Session, Kohima, 1987, p.415 4. ILPS demand decibel goes up, attains higher pitch,” Sangai Express (Imphal), 28th July 2014, pg-1. 5. No let up in ILPS movement, Student Rifle-butted, 6 hurt”, Sangai Express (Imphal), 29th July 2014, Pg- 6. All Party meet sets up Panel”, Sangai Express (Imphal), 7th August 2014, Pg-1. 7. Matai bans entry of non-locals”, Huiyen Lanpao (Imphal) , 20th August 2014, pg-1. 8. JCILPS lifts curfew imposed on non-locals till September 19”, Imphal Free Press (Imphal), 14th September 2014, pg.1. 9. Women remanded till September 16”, Imphal Free Press (Imphal), 14th September, 2014, pg.3. 10. JCILPS demands access to expert opinion, government declines”, The People’s Chronicle (Imphal), 23rd September 2014, pg.1&3. ------X------

Volume 8, Issue 7, 2020 http://aegaeum.com/ Page No: 1635