Kohima: Senior Supreme Court Advocate Shomona Khanna warned against using the Inner Line Permit as a tool for xenophobia. She spoke at a two-day seminar in Dimapur that wrapped up on August 29. The Naga Students Federation organized the event to examine the 1873 Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation. Khanna argued that the colonial administration originally designed these borders to fracture communities. "The colonial administration originally used the Inner Line to divide communities. We must not let modern undemocratic forces use these same lines to cut the Northeast off from the rest of the country."
The British introduced the 1873 regulation to limit movement between hill regions and plains. Colonial records at the time labeled Nagas with offensive, paternalistic terms like semi-savages and wanderers. Khanna noted that the 16-Point Agreement of 1960 kept these rules alive as a way for Nagaland to assert its autonomy. Sections 3, 5, and 7 of the regulation form the current legal backbone. They allow the government to restrict access, seize goods, and block outsiders from acquiring land or forest resources.
Legal status remains clear. India practices asymmetrical federalism through provisions like Article 371A. This protects Naga customary law, land, and religious practices. Khanna pointed out that Article 19 does not guarantee absolute freedom of movement. Reasonable restrictions exist to shield Scheduled Tribes. However, she expressed concern regarding executive overreach in issuing Indigenous Inhabitant Certificates.
The fight for land is not local. Khanna urged the Naga people to build alliances with Adivasi communities and other marginalized groups nationwide. She called for a future built on shared traditions and ecological stewardship. The goal is to move past extractive capitalism. Solidarity is the only way forward.
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