Nagaland brings all of Dimapur district under Inner Line Permit

The Nagaland government on Monday issued an order extending the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system to the whole of Dimapur district. Officials linked the step to the Citizenship Amendment Bill’s introduction and passage in the Lok Sabha, and it came a day before the Bill was to be taken up in the Rajya Sabha.

Why it matters

The proposed law does not cover inner line areas, which are notified under the 1873 Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, nor the Sixth Schedule tribal areas of Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram. The ILP already covered Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland, except parts of Dimapur.

Issued in the governor’s name under section 2 of the 1873 regulation, the order said every non-indigenous person entering Dimapur district, which had until now been outside the ILP, would need a permit in the same way as for the rest of Nagaland’s ILP area. Non-indigenous travellers only passing through Dimapur to other states with a valid ticket are exempt.

Shah’s assurance

In his reply in the Lok Sabha, Home Minister Amit Shah said the Bill would not extend to inner line areas or to the Sixth Schedule tribal regions of the four north-eastern states. He said Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland, apart from a portion of Dimapur, were protected by the ILP. “Manipur is not protected but we will only notify the bill once Manipur is brought under ILP,” he said.

What happened next

Parliament passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in December 2019.

See also: Election news

Originally published on 11 December 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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