Editor,
Through your esteemed daily, I would like to ask this question to the people of Arunachal Pradesh: Is our cultures, religions and natural resources really protected under the Constitution of India? Our state is not included in the 6th Schedule, which gives special status and protection to the tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
The 6th Schedule was passed by the constituent assembly to safeguard the rights of the tribal regions of Northeast India. Our state would also have been in the 6th Schedule if it had not been bifurcated from Assam through the State Reorganisation Act, 1971. However, our state has a legislature and local self-government; therefore, urging to add Arunachal under the 6th Schedule may hinder the developmental works and create conflict of interest among the state legislature, panchayats, autonomous district councils (ADC) and autonomous region councils (ARC), as one of the prominent provisions of the 6th Schedule is that the tribal areas are to be administered as ADCs and ARCs.
This brings us to another question: What is the best alternative to this? The best alternative to this is reformation and amendment in the prevailing Article 371(h) mentioned in Part XXI of the Indian Constitution. Our state should have the same status and safeguards like our neighbouring state Nagaland, which has Article 371 (a), which states that no Act of Parliament shall apply to Nagaland in respect of the religious or social practices of the Nagas, the Naga customary laws and procedures, the administration of civil and criminal justice involving decisions according to the MNga customary law, and the ownership and transfer of land and its resources, unless the Nagaland Legislative Assembly decides, or otherwise by a resolution.
These provisions are the need of the hour for our state. Our state does have ILP but we can’t just rely on ILP, as it is precarious and can be scrapped down in the future since it doesn’t have constitutional validity, created during the colonial era under the BEFR Act, 1873.
With a significant amount of natural resources and diverse tribal populations, our state is in a vulnerable situation and can be preyed on by outsiders. Hence, it becomes pertinent to safeguard our rights, cultures and resources by amending Article 371(h). It is high time that the present government addressed this issue, took immediate measures and proved that it is a people’s government and it really cares for the people of Arunachal.
J Doye