Protesters, mostly college students, under the banner of Nagaland Against CAA, took part in a rally against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act at Supermarket here on Saturday.

Nagaland has been excluded from the purview of CAA.

The protesters held placards with slogans like “We stand united against CAA” and “Modiji aapka CAA unsecular”.

A representative of Dimapur Gaonburah Federation said, “How can we accommodate outsiders when we cannot stand on our own feet? The Nagas will not allow a single foreigner to settle on their soil.”

A leader of Nagaland University Students Union said, “We want democracy, not CAA.”

Another union leader called the Act a “silent bomb which may explode any time”. He said Assam is like the “mother of Northeast”. “If Assam goes, whole Northeast will go,” he said, implying that if Assam is affected by CAA, then the rest of the region will bear its brunt.

“How can the Assam Accord and CAA be implemented at the same time,” he asked.

A representative of the North East Indigenous Citizens Forum, Nagaland, accused the Narendra Modi-led government of dividing India by bringing in CAA. He said the people of the Northeast will continue to fight against the Act and will win.

The Tenymi Students Union, Dimapur, described CAA as an “organised crime”.

NPF resolution: The Opposition Naga People’s Front (NPF) on Saturday said it had adopted a “political resolution” to oppose CAA. The party said its stand was “politically correct” as it could foresee the danger looming large for the future generation if the Act was enforced.

It said CAA was not only against the principle enshrined in its party constitution but also against the spirit of secularism. Granting of citizenship cannot be based on religion, it said. It challenged the Naga people who supported CAA to declare their stand openly.

It said CAA would open the floodgates for a particular community to enter India and slowly flood the Northeast, including Nagaland.