ITANAGAR, Aug 19: The All Nyishi Youth Association (ANYA) has strongly opposed the Arunachal Pradesh Marriage and Inheritance Property Bill, 2021 which is proposed to be tabled in the upcoming state assembly session.
In a release, the ANYA has termed the bill as “anti-Arunachalee and anti-indigenous.”
“We completely disagree with the proposed draft which says ‘An APST woman shall enjoy the right of any property owned and acquired by her in her lifetime. In the event of her death, her husband and her heir have full rights of its disposal.’ The proposed bill is against the interest of indigenous communities of state,” said ANYA general secretary Bengia Tada in a release.
He also said ANYA supports the rights of tribal women but said “the proposed bill in no way does womenfolk any favour.”
“The government is trying to portray as if they are proposing this bill for emancipation of the tribal women. But this bill will only hurt the interest of all indigenous tribal communities and women will suffer along with the men in the long run,” said Tada.
“In customary law, there is no gender discrimination in sharing of inherited immovable property. We always share inherited property with our sisters and daughters but we are against sharing immovable properties with those Arunachalee women married to non-APST.
How can a non-tribal acquire property by simply marrying an Arunachali? At present also they stay here with ILP as per Bengal Frontier Regulation 1873,” added Tada. The ANYA also questioned why the state government did not initiate any discussion with civil bodies and tribe-based organizations before proposing this bill.
“This is such a sensitive issue. The state government cannot act on their whims and fancy. We urge the state government not to table such a bill which is detrimental to the indigenous people of Arunachal Pradesh,” added the ANYA GS.
