Special Provisions for NE States after Jammu & Kashmir! 

Special Provisions for NE States after Jammu & Kashmir! 

The Centre revoked Article 370 and 35(A) through a Presidential Order. This will not only make all provisions of the Indian Constitution applicable to the State of Jammu & Kashmir but there will be no separate laws for the State henceforth. Women who would earlier marry outside of Kashmir were stripped of property rights in the past can be relieved that Indian citizens from outside of the state will be able to own land & property there. There will be elections once every five years and Central laws will directly apply to the state. Ladakh will be made into a Union Territory along with Jammu & Kashmir which will also be a Union Territory, although with a legislature.

Kashmir, hands down, has a better future with India in comparison to what it does with Pakistan, both socially and economically considering where both countries stand at present. India may not be a first world country but is definitely an ideal abode for those residing there.

Communication continues to be blocked and the internet there has been shut down which may be helpful to the government in such a state of crisis to maintain law and order, but at the same time also snatches away the right from the people of the valley to express themselves or communicate with the rest of the world. This makes the situation of Kashmir similar to that of a young woman in a patriarchal society, having no say in a matter that may change the course of all future events in her life. The curfew, internet shutdown, house arrests are indeed meant to hush the voices growing louder, echoing and reverberating in the valley. We stand with the people of Kashmir in such times.

Now, coming to the Northeast, states such as Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh enjoy a special status under the Indian Constitution. Several groups such as the Naga Hoho and People’s Representation for Identity and Status of Mizoram have expressed their concern, especially after what has happened in the case of Jammu & Kashmir by scraping of the Article 370. The fear that revocation of Article 371 (A) may cause hindrance to the ongoing peace process in Nagaland and might particularly disrupt the 22-year-long ongoing Naga peace talks with Government of India. Similarly a state of panic can be observed among certain groups in Mizoram due to the fear of Article 371(G) being scrapped there.

Most states of the Northeast have been accorded special provisions under the Article 371 which aims at preserving tribal and indigenous culture. This part of the country has over 220 ethnic groups and an equal number of dialects. The hills states in the region like Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Nagaland are predominantly inhabited by diverse tribal people, some even having sub-tribes within their own tribes. The region’s population results from ancient and continuous flows of immigrants from Tibet, Indo-Gangetic India, the Himalayas, present Bangladesh, and Myanmar. Such complexities make the region prone to various disputes, both cross-border and inter-cultural which is why there is a need for special laws for the states of this region.

The Article 371 (A) of the constitution, in lay man terms, explains how the Acts of Indian Parliament will not apply to the state of Nagaland in respect of religious or social practices, legal procedures, ownership or transfer of land and any civil or criminal decisions of justice. The Article 371 (G) of the constitution similarly provides a special status to the state of Mizoram in accordance with the Mizo customary law. Article 371 (B) deals with special provisions with respect to the formation of sub-state from the State of Assam which resulted in Statehood of Meghalaya. Article 371(C) deals with Manipur, 371(F) with Sikkim and 371(H) with Arunachal Pradesh.

The revocation of the Article 370 and 35(A) so straightforwardly in Jammu & Kashmir has proved that the new government is very well capable of scrapping Article 371 of the Indian Constitution depriving north-eastern states of similar rights too. Stating insurgency as the problem, just as in case of the valley state where a legal disconnect was blamed for growing terrorism, the government may seize hold of the special privileges held by the Northeastern states. The Northeast, however, will not sit back and watch its people bear the brunt of mistakes made by active militant outfits operating in the region and will rage against the dying of the light.

Rifa Deka,

Guwahati.

Top Headlines

No stories found.
Sentinel Assam
www.sentinelassam.com