OUR CORRESPONDENT
ITANAGAR: The Arunachal Indigenous Tribes Forum (AITF), a conglomeration of 26 major tribal communities, has requested the Law Commission of India, to keep the State out of the purview of implementation of Uniform Civil Code (UCC).
In a letter to Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, the Chairman of Law Commission of India, the AITF said that the northeastern states with 26 major tribes and over 100 sub-tribes, have distinct tribal culture, tradition, dialects, belief system and ethos.
The letter said that the issue of implementation of UCC in the state was taken up in a meeting of the AITF.
“While we have no objections to the implementation of UCC in the mainland of the country except in Arunachal Pradesh because of its unique demography & topography and its prevailing social system, which should be kept outside the purview of UCC implementation,” the letter said.
It added that the protective clauses under Article 371 of the Constitution of India as regards to the social system, customary laws and customary rights should continue to prevail upon the state and that the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR), 1873 and the Chin Hills Regulation, 1896 for protection of the indigenous culture, custom, traditions and land holding interests of the indigenous people of the state should continue to prevail upon.
“The protection is absolutely required in view of the potential threat of influx of refugees via Assam, thereby, outnumbering the fragile topographic set-up within a short time,” it added.
The forum urged upon the chairman to take care while proposing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the best interest of the indigenous tribal people of the state, so as to avert long term ramifications in future.
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