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A DELEGATION of Naga leaders has said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah assured them that the Law Commission is considering the idea of excluding the Christian community and “some tribals” from the proposed Uniform Civil Code (UCC) legislation. The 12-member Naga delegation, led by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, met Shah on Wednesday to talk to him about various concerns of the state, including regarding the implementation of a UCC and the lack of progress in the Indo-Naga peace talks.
“We apprised the Home Minister of Article 371 (A), which is applicable to Nagaland and is based on the 16-point agreement signed between the Naga tribes and the Government of India in July 1960. According to this agreement, as well as Article 371 (A), the freedom we exercise in our religious and cultural practices can’t be impinged upon by any Central law passed by Parliament. Only if such a law is also passed by the state Assembly as a resolution, can it become applicable to the state of Nagaland,” said the spokesperson of the Nagaland government and an advisor to the ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), K G Kenye.
“The Home Minister assured us that excluding Christians (in Nagaland) and some tribal communities from the scope of a UCC is being considered by the Law Commission,” added Kenye, speaking with The Indian Express. He added that the Naga delegation was “reassured and very happy” with the Union Home Minister’s response.
The 16-point agreement from 1960, based on which Nagaland was conferred the status of a state in December 1963, protects Naga customary laws, socio-religious practices, as well as land and resources.
“There is a lot of discontent in Nagaland since the Law Commission notification. If a UCC is extended to Nagaland, it brings into question the validity of Article 371 (A), which is the only bridge between mainland India and the Naga people,” added Kenye.
He pointed out that in the past, provisions of the Article have not been followed to the letter, especially in terms of use of land and resources in the state, which can only be used by the Naga people. Naga leaders and critics say that despite attempts by several state governments in the past to begin exploration for oil and natural gas in the state by invoking Article 371 (A), the moves have been repeatedly thwarted by the Centre, on the grounds that oil and natural gas are central subjects.
Recently, it was by invoking Article 371 (A) that the Nagaland Assembly could repeal the Urban Local Bodies Act, 2001, bowing to pressure from tribal bodies in the state. It prompted the State Election Commission to indefinitely postpone municipal elections in the state, which were to take place this May. The case is now being heard in the Supreme Court.
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