New Delhi: After the release of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) final draft on July 30, Meghalaya and Nagaland have reportedly increased security at their borders with Assam and are restricting the free movement of people. In Meghalaya, members of the powerful Khasi Students Union (KSU), who are supporting the police, have demanded that an NRC-like exercise be conducted in Meghalaya as well.According to a report in the New Indian Express, hundreds of people travelling to Nagaland and Meghalaya from Assam were sent back from the border. The Nagaland police set up check-posts at all entry points along the border with Assam, and also at the state’s only railhead in Dimapur. In Meghalaya, the KSU set up several check-posts across three districts bordering Assam.In addition to the Inner Line Permit already required for those entering Nagaland, New Indian Express reported, the police is now also asking for proof of Indian citizenship. Official sources told the newspaper that dozens of people who failed to provide such proof were turned back at the border. “We are looking for any document of identity, such as Aadhaar card, ration card, voter ID etc. We are worried only of people who are illegal immigrants. For the time being, we are only trying to find out whether they (travellers) have any proof of identity because we don’t yet have the details from the government of Assam,” Nagaland chief secretary Temjen Toy told the New Indian Express.In Meghalaya, the KSU reportedly stopped over 1,000 people, who they claimed are undocumented immigrants, from entering the state from Assam. “Unlike in other states which have implemented the Inner Line Permit, outsiders will easily enter our state, especially West Khasi Hills bordering Assam. So the union (KSU) has to erect an infiltration check gate as the government did not pay attention to our demand,” John Fisher Nongsiang, KSU’s West Khasi Hills unit president, told Shillong Times.KSU has already demanded that an NRC-like list should be created in Meghalaya as well.”The KSU, after observing the NRC exercise conducted in Assam which based March 24, 1971 as the cut-off year, wants wishes to propose to the Meghalaya government to expedite a similar exercise so that people of doubtful antecedents will be flushed out of the state,” KSU president Lambokstarwell Marngar had said.Lok Sabha MP and Congress leader from Assam Sushmita Dev brought up this issue in a letter to home minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday, saying that the free movement of people from her constituency, Silchar, was being restricted due to these check-posts.“…consequent to the release of the [NRC] list the movement of my constituents has been restricted at the Assam-Meghalaya border,” Dev has written. “…The actions of the police and the students [of KSU] are infringing upon the freedom of movement of the people of Cachar and also adding to the environment of fear and stress that exists today. I urge you to look into the matter and take the required steps at the earliest.”Several opposition parties have voiced stiff opposition to the NRC process in Assam. West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, the most vocal critic of the final draft, said that the list was turning “Indian citizens into refugees” and could lead to a “civil war” in the state.Over 40 lakh applicants were left out of the final draft of the NRC.