Mizoram on alert over temporary entry permits to those not in NRC final list

Minister Lalchamliana said the government has also asked officials to check the NRC status of applicants before issuing them temporary inner-line permits, which are applicable for seven days and are necessary to enter the state.

The Mizoram government has directed officials to remain alert for people, whose names were excluded from neighbouring Assam’s National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise, trying to enter the state, its home minister said on Monday.

Villagers walk on an embankment on their way to check names in the final list of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) at an NRC center in Pabhokati village in Morigaon district, in the northeastern Indian state of Assam. (AP)

Minister Lalchamliana said the government has also asked officials to check the NRC status of applicants before issuing them temporary inner-line permits, which are applicable for seven days and are necessary to enter the state. “The officials have been asked to remain alert because people whose names are not in NRC may try to enter Mizoram,” said Lalchamliana, asking if non-citizens be allowed to get inner-line permits.

But Arunachal Pradesh, another state where inner line permits are required for entry, said it had initiated no such measures. In Meghalaya, where such permits are not required, police said it had intensified checking at entry points to the state.

Zoengsanga, deputy commissioner of Mizoram’s Kolasib district that borders Assam, said the directions were received on Saturday – the day the final draft of the NRC was published and excluded 1.9 million people from its rolls.

After the draft of the NRC was published in July last year, Mizo civil society groups had initiated similar checking of NRC status at border entry points. Students groups in Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, too, had followed suit.

Mizoram Police, too, said it had intensified checking of the inner line permits. “After the NRC list was published we are checking the ILPs more strictly and have also caught violators,” said V Ralte, Kolasib superintendent of police.

Bamang Felix, home minister of Arunachal Pradesh, said there had been no impact in the state of the complete NRC.

“The anti-infiltration branch and the local police have been asked to remain alert at all state entry points after the list was published,” said R Chandranathan, director general of police, Meghalaya.